Jefferson includes this to confirm his stance that “Yes, the people do have rights, and it is wrong for the government to take them away.”

“in every stage”

“nor have we been wanting”

Jefferson includes these to argue, “I (and the other patriots) am not crazy! We’re just trying to get our rights as Englishmen. We’ve been reasonable all along, but the King’s been messing with us.”

He’s trying to convey an image of the colonists as sober middle-class types who’ve been pushed into this situation when the King tried to take away their god-given natural rights.

he drank plenty of wine

he was adding some flourishes

I think Franklin and Adams wrote the first version, and Jefferson edited