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Many people, like myself, know what the Declaration of Independence meant for people in back between the 1760-70’s. It declared a separation from Great Britain’s control. What others may not know is the history behind it. There were various reasons Americans wanted to break free from under British control such as: not wanting to live under a monarchy, to protect people’s rights and the desire to build a new nation. At the time, King George III was in control. He had opposed the American colonists’ desire for independence. It was as if he forced his policies on America and was considered an extremely inflexible tyrant. His policies made a lot of colonists angry and the rebellion began rapidly. One of the first major oppositions began with the Stamp Act in 1765. This act was meant to raise profit for establishing a British army in America. The colonists …show more content…
While Americans were struggling for their rights, King George only saw it as a rebellion in the colonies. All of the complaints that the colonists had were being ignored. Americans were tired of the overruling and unfair authority that Great Britain had over them. In an effort to vocalize the concerns, Thomas Paine wrote a fifty-page pamphlet called, Common Sense. Authors, Schweikart and Allen (2004) explained that Paine argued that the loyalty they had for the king has already ended. “The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of nature cries, ‘Tis Time to Part (p. 80).’” His book, which sold more than a hundred thousand copies, would also be used as an introduction to Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence in July 1776. The First Continental Congress was something I would consider as a courtesy. Slowly but surely, they began to eliminate British authority in the colonies. The first measure was sending complaints straight to the King. Their complaints were overlooked but this did not stop the desire of freeing themselves from
The American revolution was a reaction to unfavorable tax policies from the King of England. When the King of England began to infringe on the colonists’ liberties, leaders inspired by the enlightenment grouped together to defend the rights of the American colonies. As Thomas Jefferson writes in the Declaration of Independence, “History of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries ad usurpations,
... denied their natural born rights “with taxation without representation.” Parliament had exercised “virtual representation” when it came to the Americans. In Parliament there was recognition of the colonies issues at hand, however, no one was there to represent them. The two provisions of the Sugar Act attracted the most colonial opposition. In 1764 the Massachusetts House of Representatives resolved that the colonists had not consented to these taxes. A year after the Sugar Act was passed the Stamp Act was enacted, this started a pattern of even more Acts being created to tax the colonies over the course of the next 10 years. In the summer of 1765, the Sons of Liberty, the driving force to free the colonies from ties with Great Britain, organized. The American colonies were now on the brink of war with Great Britain questioning the tyrannical rule of King George II.
In the American colonies on April 19th, 1775, the American colonists were being ruled over by Great Britain. American colonists were being pushed to their breaking points as British generals were sent to America to try to “maintain order”. The colonists wanted nothing more than to be freed from British rule and rid themselves of the taxes that were placed on their heads. The colonists temporarily stopped these taxes once they dumped the British tea into the Boston harbor on December 16th, 1773. Although most of the tea was easily recovered, the message still stood that the American colonies wanted out of the system. The Boston Tea Party is said to be the first official moment where American colonists felt a true sense of pride in their country;
Famous refusal over Stamp Act was “No taxation without representation” (183). Colonist thought if there is no representative in parliament, they supposed to get no taxation. In fact, Britain had already burdened them by releasing Sugar Act and Stamp Act. At the beginning of November 1765, Stamp Act was repealed after several refusals (e.g. boycott and Stamp Act Congress). Unfortunately, at the same time, parliament also released the Declaratory Act, which allowing them to regulate the colonist by any law
If the Declaration of Independence and or Article of Confederation didn’t exist how would the United States operate? The Declaration of Independence, the U.S constitution, and the Article of Confederation played an major role in the United States. These documents granted freedom and natural rights to Europeans fought for political liberation by declaring independence from england, creating a new Government and incorporating ideas of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the declaration of independence, US constitution.
Now, able to express their grievances and frustrations, the Colonies were able to essentially “stick it to the man” against Britain. Thomas Jefferson writes how Great Britain’s king had “impos[ed] taxes on [them] without [their] consent,” and “depriv[ed] [them] of the benefits of trial by jury.“ He goes on to say that the king had abolish[ed] [their] most valuable laws; and alter[ed] fundamentally the forms of [their] governments.” (Baym 342) This list of complaints goes on and on. The king took away all of their fundamental rights, and the colonists were fed up. Thomas Jefferson says that he didn’t just take away their rights, but he took away their basic human rights, and “waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him.” (Baym 343) These are very strong words from Thomas Jefferson, but they reflect the way these colonists felt. They were angry, and they had every right to
Many people have the misconception that the American Revolution occurred because British colonists did not want to be British citizens any longer. This may have been the case for a select few, but many British colonists desired to maintain their status as British colonists and citizens. The foremost reason that the colonists began protests, boycotts, and petitions against the British was because they believed their innate rights as British citizens were being violated. The American Revolution occurred due to a chain of events and a complex set of intertwined reasons.
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.
The second continental congress was signing an important document on the July of 1776, that will forever change the aspects of how the English Colonies (Now the United States of America) would function as an independent nation. If I were I be there, I would fully support and sign the document, based on its political and economic reasons. This founding document was to be known as the Declaration of Independence.
On July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence is exactly what it sounds like: an announcement to the world that the United States of America was declaring its independence from King George III and Great Britain - a sort of Brexit of our own. The declaration came more than a year (442 days to be exact) after shots were fired at Lexington, Massachusetts, considered the beginning of the first battle of the American Revolutionary War.
It didn’t take long for the colonies to go into a lasting conflict with their common enemy, Britain. (But the fighting part of the war didn’t really begin until a few years later at the Battle of Lexington and Concord.)They did anything they could to resist the Britain laws, acts and stamps. From boycotting goods that Britain was imposing taxes on or simply having tea parties... (See what I did there?:) Everything represented the changes they were undergoing in America because of what the French and Indian War made the colonies realize. That realization of course was their common enemy and the struggle they were going to have to make for their independence. It was men like Thomas Paine though that helped establish these goals in our war, when in 1776 he published “Common Sense.” A pamphlet that was urging the colonists to understand that there were two goals in our fight, independence from Britain and the establishment of a democratic republic but that wasn’t all however, his pamphlet also went through the evil of the government and how there was no reconciliation with Britain . A famous phrase from his pamphlet Common Sense quotes, “Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer…” This is all a common idea between many men that helped found this country and Thomas Paine, government is a necessary evil that is intolerable at some points. Shortly after the publication of Common Sense the Second Continental
Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776. While a document for Americans to declare their independence from Great Britain, it was also a giant public relations campaign to persuade people to fight with the Americans against the British. Many Americans were against the Revolution and believed there was no use fighting against the British since they would win and make the situation in America worse. Additionally, very few Americans trusted the Government made up of and run by elites. Congress created the Declaration to give the American people false hope of equality and the end of tyranny if America won the Revolution, which resulted in so many people supporting and taking part in it.
The Declaration of Independence is considered to be the founding document of the United States of America. At the time the declaration was introduced, the colonies were “united” in declaring independence from Great Britain. They wanted to declare their freedom from taxation and from the civil rights abuses from the King. The Declaration was created after King George III and Parliament sought to establish firm control over the land obtained from France during the French and Indian War. To help pay off war debts, King George III began to tax the colonies. Colonists began to get increasingly more rebellious, resulting in actions like the Boston Tea Party. In response to the rebellion the King and Parliament exacted the “Intolerable Acts,” which caused the colonies to call the First Continental Congress together, who met in September of 1774 in Philadelphia. The First Continental Congress met again in May of 1775 setting up the Second Continental Congress. The Secon...
To start, the colonists complained about the injustice toward them within the courts. “He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good” (Declaration of Independence). This grievance is essentially stating
Thomas Paine constructs Common Sense as an editorial on the subject of the relationship between the Colonies and Great Britain. Through the paper, he hopes to educate his fellow Americans about this subject. In his introduction, he says he feels that there is 'a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong'; which 'gives it a superficial appearance of being right'; (693). He is alluding to the relationship, also calling it a 'violent abuse of power'; (693). This choice of words is similar to those of Jefferson, who asserts that the king had established an 'absolute tyranny'; over the states. Both men set an immediate understanding about their feelings towards the rule of Great Britain over the States. However, where Common Sense seems to be an opinionated essay, Thomas Jefferson writes somewhat of a call to battle. Paine generally seems to be alerting his readers to the fact that there is more going on than they are aware of. Jefferson, on the other hand, begins his declaration by stating, 'When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another'; (715). Unlike Paine, this seems to presuppose that readers are aware of the plight of the nation, and Jefferson is announcing that the time has come to take a stand.