Rafi Jacobs A.P. American History Report
About two months ago I still thought that the Declaration of Independence was something written a few hundred years ago, and was very famous, but had no real historical value. I just thought it was a nice thing, and after it became famous was adapted as a work of art. And to be honest I didnt even know what signifagance it had and how much it really did for out country. But after reading the Declaration of Independence, by Carl Becker, I found out what it really meant. In this report I will not only prove that I read the book, but show what affect it had on our country, the independent Unites States of America.
Actually, the decleration wasn't even the officiol act of seperation from Great Britian. That was done on June 7th, 1776, when Richard Henry Lee, on behalf of the Virginia Delegation made three resolutions, one that declared the United Sttes should be free and indipendent states, and there should be no connection between them and Great Britain. It was voted in on July 2nd, 1776. However, on the 10th of June in when they decided they should write a decleration of indipendence, and they appointed Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. At first Thomas Jefferson ask John Adams if he could write it. He replied "First, you are a Virginian, ought to be in charge of buissness, next I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular, reason number three, you are a ten times better writer, Mr. Jefferson."
When writing this document, they had to be careful not to do a few things. First, they didn't want this to sound like a rebellion. They tried to make it sound like it was a moral and justified thing to do. The goal was to make this rebellion a justified act. Rebelling against a king is seriose. So they had to be careful. They couldn't just make this against their own king of Britian, instead they wanted it to be a generelized statement for all kings. Otherwise, no one would pay any attention to it, for its only against one king. What Jefferson had to do was formulate a general political philosophy that affirms the right ofna people to establish and overturn it';s own goverment, which is also formulated in the first part of the second paragraph of the decleration, saying that all men are created equal with rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The Declaration of Independence refers to “our constitution”, in this respect they were referring to the Ancient British Constitution. The United States was expressing the fundamental aspects of British politics; among these were Classic Republicanism, Enlightenment Liberalism, and Protestant Christianity. In the Declaration they balanced all of these English traditions; expressing what they believed to be the true spirit of the British Constitution. As Edmund Burke would say, “(the Revolution) was carried out not to create new liberties but to preserve old ones” (Wood, p. 58). The main issue that the colonies had with the British following 1763, was England’s belief in the doctrine of
Imagine living in a country where no citizen has a say in the government’s actions. Envision a nation where the ruler can tax people without permission and the common people are forced to obey without question. That was life in The Colonies before the year of 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was created. Great Britain passed laws whether it benefited the people or not. Before the Declaration of Independence was composed, a plethora of unnecessary taxes were approved. These taxes sent many colonists into debt. According to “The Declaration of Independence, 1776,” published on Office of the Historian, a famous tax called the Stamp Act was passed by Parliament. This tax forced colonists to purchase stamps for every paper product
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” These were the mighty words that Thomas Jefferson wrote down he developed his portion of the Declaration of Independence. Some people do not recognize Thomas Jefferson as one of the founding fathers, with other names like Ben Franklin and John Hancock being thrown around the room, but yet we should see him as the most important one. Thomas Jefferson was assigned to make a draft for the document. He chose to talk about how all men are equal and everybody deserves life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The declaration of independence is one of the most important documents in history and made all men equal, meaning one race is not superior to another. This influenced the public by making the black race have hope because now, they could see that one day they would be just as equal as...
In the making of the United States, there were many events that are important. This paper intends to highlight a few of those events including; Magna Carta, Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation and the Federalist Papers. Many events in America’s history helped to establish the United States as a free and independent country. The Declaration of Independence in particular explains the rights and freedoms that Americans. Each document is like a stepping stones that leads to the next and building upon the pervious document.
His opening paragraph introduces the context for the Declaration. He goes on to list offenses by the King. Jefferson assures his audience that for every offense committed by the King, the colonists have presented a solution(s), only to be cast aside. Their last resort after failed negotiations is to declare themselves a free people. Jefferson was explicit in his Declaration of Independence, the colonists were not asking to be “totally dissolved” of union with the British Crown, they had already decided and were well on their way to constructing a new
Jefferson, Thomas. "The Declaration of Independence." The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues Across the Disciplines. 8th edition, Ed. Gilbert H. Muller. New York: McGraw Hill, 2003. 305-308.
... things happening in his life at the time Bierce wrote many articles and Tales of Soldiers and Civilians, Black Beetles in Amber, Can Such Things Be?, In the Midst of Life (1892), and Fantastic Fables (1899). All of these works are a part of what made him become one of the best-known journalists in America. Because of his writings and his sense of humor he acquired the nickname “Bitter Bierce”.
The way that Jefferson structured The Declaration of Independence made the article extremely influential. Jefferson first starts by sharing his belief that governments and monarchies that do not represent the people. He then goes on to tell the rights that he believes all people should have all over the world. The rights he describes are simple and reasonable. From there his last line of that paragraph is “to prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid World.” Then he starts to describe the injustices done to the colonies by the English crown. His structure works well to persuade people because he does not start immediately accusing the king of all these injustices or with strong languages. Like all good speakers and authors, Jefferson starts off with a lightly worded statement about when a group of people should start a new government. He then transitions to a slightly stronger statement about human rights, and then he goes into his compelling injustices of the king. The injustices that he describes include “He has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People. The Declaration of Independence is...
Throughout history, only a few documents have changed the way we as a nation view politics and carry out our everyday lives. The document mentioned above was the Declaration of Independence. It changed the course of history because it granted America its freedom from Great Britain. Originally, there was a committee created to compose the document which consisted of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson. After conversing with one another, the committee decided that Thomas Jefferson would be the one to write it with the final approval coming from the other four. After writing it and receiving approval from the committee, Jefferson presented it to the House. What happened here was not what the committee originally expected. Not all of the delegates attending the convention approved the document. However, through compromising for the greater good of the “New Nation” and editing to accommodate everyone’s preferences, the document was finally approved by all thirteen colonies.
The Declaration of Independence is focused for the most part toward King George III and the British Parliament. Jefferson wanted them to understand the reasoning behind the American's decision of independence. From paragraphs 6-32 he lists all the acts of tyranny that King George III forced upon the Americans. The list is longer than all the other parts of the document put together. It demonstrates how much emphasis Jefferson placed on providing reasons. But, this list is not only directed at Jefferson, it is a reminder to all Americans and the whole world of what disturbing times have been overcome in the past.
Friedenwald, Herbert. The Declaration of Independence: An Interpretation and an Analysis. New York: Da Capo Press, 1974.
The Declaration of Independence includes four parts. The first part is the Preamble, which explains why the Continental Congress drew up the Declaration. They felt their reason should be explained to England.
The final step in the preparation for a new government was separation from the old government. This was declared twice in the Declaration of Independence. In the beginning, “That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, driving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” and in the end, “that these united colonies are, and ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. In conclusion, the Declaration of Independence was able to motivate people, give them ambition, and make it simple for Americans to take action.
...secure the people, and it’s the people’s obligation to obey by the laws instituted to them. He had envisioned a government that wouldn’t abuse the rights of the people. The government can control the people, but the people have a say in how the government should govern them. It was his vision to allow the people to be governed, but still be free. If it wasn’t for Jefferson and his Declaration of Independence, then there wouldn’t have been a democrat government. The United States wouldn’t be what it is today, a government for the free people.
When it comes to the Declaration of Independence, it affected not only the people of the colonies, but in fact, affected people around the globe and still affects people to this very day. This single document helped inspire nearly half of the 192 nations apart of the United Nations to have their own declaration of independence (Armitage, 2007). The Declaration of Independence is seen as one of our nation’s most prestigious document and this is because it is the document that declared our independence from Great Britain and the Royal Crown. It is essentially the marking of the United States’ birth.