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analyzing the declaration of independence
analyze the declaration of independence
significance declaration of independence
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We Are Created Equal Declaration of Independence of the United States is a political document of the thirteen colonies declaring independence and free of King’s tyranny. Human rights and liberties of American citizens were officially announced to the public for the first time. The sovereignty principle of the Continental Congress was a challenge to the British colonization in North America as well as it affected to other tyrannical monarchies that dominated throughout the European continent. The document was drafted by Thomas Jefferson, Congress edited to produce the final version. After ratifying the text on July 4, Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in several forms. The most famous quote of the Declaration is "We hold these …show more content…
The document was written specifically to notify the King of England and the Great Britain’s government that the people of the thirteen colonies had desire to become independent and free of the King’s tyranny. American colonists had suffered for many years when this important document was drafted, King George III had pushed the colonists into a state of tyranny and therefore they decided it was time to start an independent nation under a different type of government; the document stated "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; and that, as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other acts and things which independent states may of right to do." (Declaration of Independence). Jefferson focused his piece toward many audiences, he wanted not only King George III and the British Parliament to know the American 's feelings, but also the entire world. Jefferson wanted them to understand the reasons behind the American 's decision, so that the foreign countries would provide endorsements to American independent war effort. They were the main audiences that the document …show more content…
The format of the document highlighted each specific argument. An example of syllogism, after listing all of the oppressions that the King harmed the people with, the Declaration stated: “We, therefore the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, 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 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; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace..” (Randy Barnett). After all those harms had been done, they have the right to take actions. The Declaration of Independence was filled with extremely intelligent, courageous, and unifying words that make for an incredibly impactful
After it was written, 56 delegates coming from all of the 13 colonies signed the Declaration of Independence in order to make it official. This document served great justice during the Atlantic Revolution; it sought to make a difference as to how the colonies were in terms of their alliance with Britain. The Atlantic Revolution was able to make this happen, for it opened up the space for change. Through the document, we can see how the colonies determined to separate themselves from the British Empire. Some things to pay attention to in the writing is that they mentioned things like “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”. The goal of this statement is to make sure that even though the men make up the government and the people must be okay with them, at the end of the day the people have the right to make sure that their government is not being destructive and is aiming towards their rights. The Atlantic Revolution brought forth new ideas of government and the liberation of the colonies from the
The Declaration has helped in many debates ranging from the banning of slavery to the acknowledgement of newly independent nations (Tsesis 3). In 1774 delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies gather in Philadelphia to meet at the First Continental Congress to decide what to do about the British laws. Most people wanted to fix the relationship with England instead of gaining their independence. The British leaders would have most likely been up to the idea of negotiating, but instead the American Revolution was started. Thomas Jefferson was not present at the first Congress. A month after the Second Continental Congress started, Jefferson took his seat as a delegate from Virginia. John Adams stated that Jefferson had “a reputation for literature, science, and a happy talent for composition” (8). Jefferson noticed that many people were not yet open to the idea of independence, they were still trying to stay with England. During this time Common Sense came out and paved the way for the Declaration of Independence. After Common Sense came out, Richard Price published a pamphlet which condemned parliamentary infringement on the colonists’ rights. This pamphlet became very popular and was in circulation in England and America. On April 12,1776 North Carolina became the first colony “to concur with the delegates of the other colonies in declaring Independency” (10). On May 15 Congress published a preamble which explained that the Americans planned to be removed from the rule of England. This was the first step to a real declaration of independence because it finally showed that America decided to gain their independence.
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...
In 1776, the tyranny of King George III made it necessary for all thirteen colonies to unite, declare independence and to sever political ties between Great Britain. The under-represented people of America needed something strong which showed how colonists need to free of the English rule. The colonists did that by writing a “list of grievances” by stating their reasons for rebelling against Britain’s tyranny. If it wasn’t for Thomas Jefferson’s brilliant idea of creating the Declaration of Independence, who knows how America would have turned out today? However, 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. Ultimately, the Declaration of Independence has become a document that has been interpreted to guarantee the basic rights of everyone in America and abroad. Who would have thought that this one document could have created this much of an impact today? The Declaration of Independence still was, and still is, the most important part of America’s history because of its historical influence. The Declaration of Independence is still very relevant – it still plays a significant role in today’s society.
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.
In the Declaration of Independence we can clearly see the stated logical claims within this document. In the preamble, they explain why they are writing this document and the final sentences state, “The History of the present King of Great- Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World”. Here at the end of the sentences they clearly state the claim and say “To prove this”. The document states all reasoning which supports the claim. They use enough evidence support the claim which was constructed. Within the document, the authors use examples of how the King of Great Britain has caused problems within the thirteen states. They give reasoning on the King and his destruction: “He ha...
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.
When presenting a serious issue utilizing a specific and concrete diction is essential. The Declaration of Independence includes many formal formulated sentences. In the very first paragraph, Thomas Jefferson includes a phrase with words like “necessary for one people to dissolve political bands” which formed a sense of how the people felt. Jefferson used “necessary” as a key word because its gives the impression that the colonists were determined to compel as it says. The colonies were ready to break the ties and walk on their own. Moreover, when writing of the king of Britain and his actions, Jefferson’s diction is sharp. “But when a long train of abuses and usur...
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 purpose was to justify the revolution of the “new” colonies. Many of the people were excited for the plan. The American people had thrived for the freedom, and to establish the government for themselves. The Declaration has three parts to the document. The first part was the Declaration of Natural Rights. This explained the basic human rights for each American citizen. The entire document is centered around how each person is equal, and it has been given by God. The second part of the document is composed of lists of grievances. This section listed complaints about the ruler of Great Britain at the time, George III. This, of course, spoken against the ideas of the king, and the ideas of a overpowering monarchy. The third part of the document was the resolution, or conclusion. The resolution concluded that the colonists have officially broken away from Great Britain. With the closing part, the colonists had officially separated from Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence first step was to separate the colonies into states and establish the authorities that will be in control over the
The document listed the reasons why the colonies were leaving; importantly, Thomas Jefferson also wrote about the rights of Man, and what the colonies recognized as equal rights (“The Declaration of Independence,” 1776, para. 2). The Constitution, which was ratified on July 21, 1788, was meant to strengthen the Articles of Confederation, which was rather ambiguous and weak in numerous areas. The revised document provided more strength to the foundation of America by specifying the government’s power. For example, the Constitution was specific about the power that belonged to the branches of the government, such as impeaching a president, the proceedings of war and the country’s security, and taxes (“Constitution of the United States of America,” 1788, para. 7-37). Both not only dealt with laws and rights of the government, such as taxes, but also the rights of the land that the government was given to protect. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson speaks about the God-given rights given to mankind (1788, para. 2). The Constitution was created to put such rights and laws that were written in the Declaration of Independence in place in a manner where there was a clear line between order and the chaos of British rule. Clearly, it is evident that there is a list of the abuses of the British government (“The Declaration of
Thomas Jefferson composed The Declaration of Independence in 1776. The purpose of this document was to explain to both foreign countries and the people of America why separating from England had to happen and to ultimately get them [the people] to agree to a revolution. Thomas Jefferson made The Declaration of Independence a stylistic and artistic masterpiece through his powerful word choice, the use of personification and the sentence structures used throughout the document.
On July 4th, 1776, America 's most important document in history was announced, "Declaration of Independence". The Declaration of Independence defined America 's prestige, value, and its freedom. It was the document which stated American colonies now did not want to be the part of British property. It is one of the most important days because for the first time in the history of America; it was on its own and stood as a single country. The majority of the Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson which was debated by Congress and made many changes in the original document. One of the major changes made by Congress was removing an attack on the institution of slavery.
Intro: The Declaration of Independence shapes our ideal vision in America by letting every individual have unalienable rights, not having to live under a tyrant, and having equality. These rights are to be protected by one government that is willing to secure these rights for the people. Due to not being responsible towards the people’s happiness, this government will be overthrown and replaced with a new one in which the people will be satisfied with.
To start, the purpose of the Declaration of Independence was to explain to others why the thirteen colonies have united and why they chose to separate from England’s rule. “...thus marked by every act which may