The Declaration of Independence is the primary document ...



The Declaration of Independence is the primary document that our founding fathers used as a justification for their war of independence waged against Britain. Americans were not the people for which the document was intended. The document was written to justify the action of the colonies to Britain and other countries of the world (mostly those in Europe). The Second Continental Congress hoped that such a justification might be enough reason for foreign countries to aid the colonists against Britain, or at least, not help Britain put down the rebellion of its colonies.

It is thus time for you to take a closer look at the organization and content of this persuasive document.

| | |

|Part One: The Opening |From the first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence, list the |

| |self-evident truths that indicate when it is alright for people to change their |

|This part provides the theoretical |government. |

|justification of when it is OK for a people to| |

|overthrow (change) its government. | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

|Part Two: The Grievances |List and explain what you believe are the 5 most significant grievances of the |

| |colonists. |

|This part lists over 20 grievances | |

|(complaints) about the king of Britain | |

|violating the writes of his colonial citizens.| |

| | |

| | |

|Part Three: Reconciliation |List and explain three ways that the colonists attempted to resolve their problems |

| |with Parliament and/or the King. |

|This part explains that the colonists attempt | |

|to resolve their issues with the king but that| |

|they were refused (the next to last | |

|paragraph). | |

| | |

|Part IV: Independence Declared |Who do the signers of the Declaration indicate that they are speaking for and to |

| |whom do they say they are speaking? |

|In the final paragraph, the independence of | |

|the colonies from Britain is declared. | |

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

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

Google Online Preview   Download