An Analysis of the Declaration of Independence
By understanding the framework of time that the Declaration of Independence was written in, we can see its impact upon the peoples of early America and how they dealt with this famous writing. This paper will explain the basic ideas contained in the Declaration of Independence, the impact of the Declaration upon the American War of Independence, and the reasons the Declaration was considered a "radical document". These themes will be discussed and analyzed to demonstrate the premise of the Declaration of Independence, as well as to explain why and how it worked within the time it was written in.
When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, he foresaw the coming of great changes within the times that he lived in. The Declaration embodied many of the ideas that separated the colonies from England and thus began the process of creating a new country out of the fray.
One of the ideas that Jefferson wrote about was the freedom of religion. This was a core idea that made the basis of a republican society work, via separation of church and state. This caused many schisms in the many faiths that were already implanted in the colonies. Moreover, it took a long time to separate the church from the state because of the old foundations set by England. Jefferson set the trend for freedom in this writing to give everyone a fair chance to be “whomever they wanted to be regardless of race, creed or religion” (Zinn p.77).
Another idea entrenched in the Declaration of Independence is that men should not be subject to the hierarchy that was the foundation for a monarchical government -- such as the one that England had used unsuccessfully with the colonists in the new world. A king could do as he pleased and thus wreaked havoc within the colonies by taxing without representation. This started the whole “windfall of rebellion by the colonists from the North to the South” (Maier p.236). Jefferson wrote that all people were created equal -- and this was the great democracy that he and others envisioned in their time. Jefferson believed that the English form of governing was no longer the acceptable way for a human to be treated and this was the basis for him to ink the Declaration against primogeniture and other forms of “special” treatment for Lords who governed the colonies so poorly through the influence of King George the III.
Our Declaration of Independence, was penned most notably by Thomas Jefferson in response to the atrocities committed by the British Crown against the citizens of the American Colonies. At the time of the drafting of The Declaration, Jefferson was widely known to be a successful practitioner of Law as a lawyer, and an eloquent writer. It is due to this, that although Jefferson was a member of a five-man committee charged with drafting the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was tapped to be the main author.
The Declaration of Independence is one of the most important documents produced by an American thinker. Reading The Declaration of Independence presents the reader with a window into the world of revolutionary America. It conveys the dynamic nature of the time better than any written work of the period. The real importance of The Declaration of Independence lies not in the purpose for which Jefferson created it, to declare independence from Great Britain, but rather how future generations have interpreted Jefferson's words. Jefferson's document originally guaranteed basic rights for a select segment of the American population. Today it has become a document which has been interpreted to guarantee the basic rights of everyone living in America and abroad. In a way it has become a document with a life of its own. It has become something far more substantial than anything Jefferson or his contemporaries, writing within an eighteenth century mindset, could ever have believed it would become.
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...
...r, we may desist to maintain any individuality or creativity in the future. If we let ourselves be overrun by constraints and restrictions, we prevent ourselves from being the mighty and influential society we are now and fall into a time of dullness and depression. Vonnegut obviously worried about the future administration of the state and wrote this story to prevent upcoming ages from making things grow any worse. By depicting a society in which no original thought could live, Vonnegut makes us ponder before allowing further commands from a higher authority. By exposing an extreme contrast between Harrison and the remainder of the world, Vonnegut encourages scholars to be like Harrison and fight for them and for what they believe. Vonnegut wants our community to precede in a positive and independent course and not be restrained and defined by any higher authority.
Vonnegut Jr., Kurt. "Harrison Bergeron." The Story and Its Writer. 8th ed Ann Charters. Boston: Bedford, 2011. 846-50. Print.
There are many important factors in the Declaration of Independence, which enable the foundation of a new government. These range from describing grievances with England, to how government should be run differently, to the first statement of separation. The first step to the foundation of a new government is the uniting of a people in a common goal. Since all people were feeling violated by English soldiers, it was necessary to state these grievances in order to make people aware that they are not alone. When people learned that others felt the same as them emotion was stirred. The Declaration of Independence listed the grievances such as, “He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.” The next important step to the foundation of a new government was to gain peoples ambition by showing how the government would be run if a new party took over. This goal was achieved by stating the rights of man. “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.” This statement made people hopeful and feel kindly toward this new government. 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 of right 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 made it simple for Americans to take action.
Two Hundred and thirty-seven years ago one of the most masterful documents in history was created, which is The Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence expressed Thomas Jefferson’s along with the fifty-five American colonists’ vision of revolution towards independence, and a new government pronouncing rupture from Great Britain. In the document, Thomas Jefferson, the author, established that if their government fails to protect their inalienable rights to life, pursuit of happiness and liberty the people have the right to eradicate it. The Declaration of Independence was ratified declaring the United States free and independent on July 4th, 1776. This document was evidently very influentially serious and meaningful as all those men promised to, “Mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” Thus, the Declaration of Independence was a successful document due to Jefferson appealing most effectively through diction, syntax, literary devices and most importantly rhetoric to justify the renouncement from the British Crown.
Same-sex relationships have always been a controversial legal issue, and there has been a variety of legal and non-legal responses, coming from a range of different viewpoints regarding the issue. In recent years, there has been many law reforms recognising same sex relationships, which include changes to Medicare, tax, social security, superannuation, worker’s compensation, child support, and allowing people in same-sex relationships to adopt children. These legal reforms come about as a result of extensive lobbying by non-government groups and organisations designed to promote the recognition of same-sex relationships in Australia.
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.
“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” (qtd. in Allison 65). Before 1776, Colonial America was a colony of Great Britain. Then, when their mother country became too oppressive, brave revolutionaries planned a Declaration of Independence to rid themselves of their bonds. This document launched the colony into The Revolutionary War with Great Britain. Eventually, The United States of America gained independence at the hands of many brave men and women. Prominent among these heroes and heroines is Thomas Jefferson who wrote the Declaration of Independence. Apart from the Declaration, Jefferson accomplished great achievements in his lifetime; our nation would not be the same today without his genius: “Even among that remarkable group of men known as the Founding Fathers, Jefferson was truly a giant” (Allison 9).
The Declaration of Independence was the key to winning such valuable freedom from the British government. During the years of 1773-1781, America fought drastic battles both orally and physically to win back what they knew they were losing. Freedom was the motivation behind these many trials, victories, and losses, but the forefathers were not to be delayed in their mission. It was not to be dragged asunder. They were determined, as anyone in this situation would be, to free the American colonists of the tyranny and monarchy that had held the new country’s government on a leash. America wasn’t willing to play puppets with England any longer. True, they attempted many forms of negotiation with the mother-country, but England’s pride
One of the greatest conflicts in the history of the United State of America, the Revolutionary War, was started when the colonies of North America declared themselves independent from British rule. A group of men known as the Founding Fathers, which included George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John and Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and others, formed the Continental Congress to rule their new nation. They chose Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence, which they would send to King George III to make their independence official. Jefferson knew that he needed to use strong language to make a solid agrument against British rule in the colonies and to convince the colonists that independence was the only choice to maintain their freedom as human beings. The powerful use of parallelism, ethos, pathos, and logos helpd Thomas Jefferson to convey his idea that all men are created equal with unalienable rights and that it is the duty of the government to protect those rights.
Main female characters always have a distinct personality that affects their choices and the outcome of their lives. Strong, independent, sarcastic, and witty are all what comes to mind when having to describe Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice, the second of five daughters in a middle class family. She is a very intellectual individual who attempts to find romance although surrounded by the limitations and prejudice of social classes. Being raised in a narcissistic society that looks down upon her and family's status, she grew up to have a natural defensive remark to any insults. Her natural defensiveness led to her prejudice towards a very wealthy Mr. Darcy who shared the same impression of Elizabeth. After a realization of his true noble personality, Elizabeth then found true love with Mr. Darcy which cannot be said for the beautiful Catherine Earnshaw, in Wuthering Heights, who is a daughter from a gentry family. At a very young age, an orphan named Heathcliff joined the Earnshaw family. Both Catherine and Healthcliff fell madly in love with one another since then. One would expect them to marry due to their strong attraction for one another but because Catherine has a immature desire for social advancement, she married Edgar Linton, instead of Heathcliff. Catherine is a very spoiled socialite which very well contradicts the honest and virtuous Elizabeth Bennet, but although they make different decisions and are different as a person, both these free-spirited women want to choose their own future that satisfies their desires.
The way society views same sex marriage can change. Throughout history, many beliefs have changed. In the past, black people were not considered as citizens in the constitution. It is not until the thirteenth amendment in 1865 that slavery was banned. Women were not considered equal to men and were not given the right to vote until 1920 when congress passed the fourteenth amendment. It takes time but opinions and beliefs can change and the past has shown us that is indeed possible! Same sex marriage are nothing more than the union of two humans being that care, love, and want to make commitments to each other. That commitment can not be recognized unless same sex marriage is legalized.
Many people believe in a traditional marriage between a man and a woman. God created man and woman to be faithful and produce children. Same-sex marriage is contrary to the word of God and the laws of nature; therefore, it is incompatible with the beliefs, sacred texts, and traditions of many religious groups. Many biblical scriptures talk about how immoral same-sex marriage is.