DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE:



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE:

KEY FACTS

WHAT IS IT?

( Document that declared independence from Britain and the formation of a new country, the United States of America

WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR CREATING IT?

(Written by Thomas Jefferson

Jefferson asked to write the Declaration by John Adams.

Richard Henry Lee proposed independence

Second Continental Congress decided a formal declaration should be written, forms committee (John Adams, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson)

• Edited and adopted by the Second Continental congress. The Continental Congress decided that a controversial passage in which Jefferson condemned slavery should be removed, as the South found it offensive.

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE:

Richard Henry Lee’s Proposal to Declare Independence

The Lee Resolution is the official proposal for independence put before the Second Continental Congress. The Continental Congress voted on and approved the resolution. It said…

"Resolved: 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."

KEY QUOTE FROM THE LEE RESOLUTION:

“..these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states…”

the “WHEN”: TIMELINE OF DECLARING INDEPENDENCE

• Proposed June 7, 1776 by Richard Henry Lee

• Formally adopted and went into effect July 4, 1776. This date marks the beginning of the United States of America as a country (before it we were just a colony).

• Signing completed by August 2, 1776

WHERE IT WAS WRITTEN: Philadelphia

WHY WRITE IT?

• All other possibilities of dealing with Britain had been exhausted

• The world deserved an explanation for America’s decision to declare their independence

• By stating these principles, Jefferson hoped to gain support for the Revolution, both at home and abroad

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE: KEY FACTS

HOW DOES IT SAY IT/ HOW IS THE DOCUMENT ORGANIZED?

Organized into three parts:

1) NATURAL RIGHTS : discusses natural rights and the role of government,

2) BRITISH WRONGS: A list of offenses committed by the British against the Americans

3) DECLARING INDEPENDENCE: a declaration that American is independent from Britain.

The document

• Explains why the Declaration has been written

• Discusses of the rights of human beings and the responsibility of government to its citizens

• Shows how Britain has violated those principles by listing the grievances against George the III

• Declares the United States of America as a newly formed, free and independent nation

• Discusses the powers of the new nation:

-Make war and peace

-Make alliances with foreign nations

-Establish commerce

-“do all other acts and things which

independent states” do

• Says that the new nation is “open for business:” can make war, sign treaties, enter alliances with foreign nations, and establish commerce

JEFFERSON’S IDEAS ABOUT PEOPLE’S RIGHTS AND THE PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT

1. People are born with inalienable (God-given—cannot be taken away) rights, which are the right to Life, Liberty pursuit of Happiness.”

2. The purpose of government is to protect the people’s inalienable rights

3. If the government does not do this, the people have the right to “alter or abolish” the government (GET RID OF THE GOVERNMENT OR CHANGE IT)

-The signers of the Declaration vowed to pledge their “Lives, our Fortunes and our Sacred Honor” to support the cause of Independence. (“To support this declaration, with firm alliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our Sacred Honor.”)

-After the Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed, the work was far from over. America still faced the enormous challenge of having to win a war against Britain.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download