Jefferson meant in writing The Declaration of Independence to justify the war the colonists were waging to free themselves from British rule. His chief audience included fellow colonists who, whatever their grievances against the British, were uncertain about breaking away from Britain entirely.

Jefferson, therefore, tried to convince his fellow colonists and if possible, the British, of the merit of the revolutionary cause, primarily by piling up multiple examples of British acts of tyranny. This method of persuasion (or rhetorical strategy) is called illustration or exemplification. Using this strategy, an argument becomes convincing if a person can provide enough specific and appropriate examples to back up his or her contention.

Jefferson provides the following illustrations of British tyranny, aiming his ire at King George III, a monarch he accuses, among other things, of the following:

George III has refused to agree to laws that were necessary for the good of the colonists. He has blocked the passage of other necessary laws, trying to trade their passage for the colonists' agreeing to give up representative government. He has made it difficult for legislative bodies to assemble, imprisoned individuals unfairly, interfered with democratic processes, placed a standing army on the continent, and waged war on the colonists. All in all, these accusations paint a portrait of king misusing and abusing democratic institutions to achieve his own ends and undermining legitimate voices in the governing process.

Whether or not this added up to the "absolute Despotism" Jefferson asserted, the cumulative effect of all these examples of George III's malevolence makes a persuasive argument.

Jefferson makes great use of both deductive and inductive reasoning in laying out his argument for independence from Britain.

Deductive arguments are "top-down" in that they begin with the general and move to the specific. Inductive arguments are "bottom-up" and begin with specific observations and move to broader ideas.

Jefferson's general claim (premise) is that King George is a tyrant. Jefferson recites a litany of twenty-seven specific abuses of which the king is guilty. Taken together, these twenty-seven abuses support his claim of the king's tyranny and offer inductive support for his claim.

Other claims that Jefferson makes are more based on philosophical values and are thus less provable, such as his claim of the colonies' right to independence and self-rule. Moreover, Jefferson asserts the claim that all bonds between the colonies and Britain should be dissolved.

Finally, Jefferson claims that when the colonies are free from Britain they, as the independent United States, would be able to act as all independent nations do, another point of deductive logic.