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Short Review of the Declaration

Jeremy Bentham · 1776

Bentham's 1776 contribution to a government-backed rebuttal of the American Declaration of Independence, mocking its claims of self-evident truths.

Bentham wrote this 1776 rebuttal of the American Declaration, revealing his early rejection of natural-rights theory.

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What it is

This text is Jeremy Bentham's 1776 contribution to An Answer to the Declaration of the American Congress, a pamphlet written with John Lind and backed by the British government. It attacks the preamble of the American Declaration of Independence line by line.

Why it matters

Bentham rejected the idea of self-evident natural rights, calling the Americans' theory of government absurd and comparing their beliefs to superstition. The piece shows his lifelong hostility to natural-rights theory, which he later also turned against the French Revolution's Declaration of the Rights of Man.

Look closer

  • Why might the British government have wanted this rebuttal written and published?
  • What tone does Bentham use when describing the Americans' ideas — how does word choice shape the argument?
  • What does Bentham leave out about the Americans' grievances?

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