AIM: Should America have been able to declare their ...



The Declaration of Independence

So, the founding fathers did their reading…and they stole some pretty fine ideas from some brilliant philosophers. This and a little bit of maneuvering and we were all on our way to independence!

A. Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” – January 1776

“…I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments and common sense...It is right and reasonable for America to separate from England…If we stay with England we stay connected to England, we will get too involved in British political problems…Even the distance between England and America gives proof that we are not supposed to be connected…The period of debate is closed. Arms as the last resource must decide the contest (argument)…Everything that is right pleads for separation. The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of nature cries, ‘Tis time to part.’”

B. John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government (Chapter VIII)

Although people agreed on certain natural rights (life, liberty and property), they worried about how those rights could be protected. Locke and others thought about what life would be like in a situation where there was no government and no laws. They called this situation a state of nature. They were afraid that in a state of nature their rights would be taken away.

In your own words, describe “State of Nature” - __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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a. “If man in the state of nature…be absolute lord of his own person and possessions equal to the greatest and subject to nobody, why will he part with his freedom and subject himself to the authority and control of any other power? It is obvious to answer that though in the state of nature he has such a right, yet the enjoyment of it is very uncertain and constantly exposed to the invasion of others…the enjoyment of property he has in this state is very unsafe, very insecure, very dangerous.” - J. L.

Why would people give up absolute freedom to join a government?

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b. The Social Contract: “Men being by nature free, equal, and independent, no one can be put out of his estate and subjected to the political power of another without his own consent, which is done by agreeing with other men, to join and unite into a community for their comfortable, safe, and peaceable living, one amongst another, in a secure environment for their properties, and a greater security against any that are not of it (those not in the community).

For, when any number of men have, by consent of every individual, made a community, they have thereby made that community one body, with a power to act as one body, which is only by the will and determination of the majority.”

Describe what happens when people join a community and agree to be under one political power.

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C. The Declaration of Independence, 1776

a. “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, …a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

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b. “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. – That to secure these rights government are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. – That whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

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c. “The history of the 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.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of people.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Law as for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to the Acts of pretended legislations:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us.

For protecting them, by mock Trial, from punishment for any murders which

they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For imposing Taxes on us without our consent.

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He has abdicated (removed himself) from Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us…”

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d. “We, therefore, …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 all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved…And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

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Describe the significance of the Declaration of Independence for America, its people, and people around the world.

• Laid Foundation for Democratic Government

The Declaration said that government was a creation of the people, and that the U.S. government’s final power would be in the hands of its citizens.

• Inspired Equality

When the Declaration was adopted, not all Americans were treated equally. The words “All men are created equal,” set a goal for American society that is closer to being realized, 200 years later.

• Influenced the Constitution

The U.S. Constitution guarantees many rights for all citizens. Many of these rights were based on ideas set forth in the Declaration of Independence.

• Impact of Revolutions Abroad

Ideas in the Declaration were used by others who felt oppressed by their government, such as the leaders of the French Revolution (1789), and later revolutionaries around the world.

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John Trumbull’s “Declaration of Independence”

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