 The Declaration of Independence, which is dated July 4, 1776, but was signed and released days afterwards, is both an indictment of King George III and his government, as well as a manifestation of limited government and maximum individual freedom. Though the final version drops some of Jefferson's more bellicose language, the document as we know it is largely his. Not only his lofty language, but also the three principles Jeffersonian values that it manifests.