“We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.” (The Declaration of Independence, U.S. 1776, para. 2). The Declaration of Independence is one of the most important documents in American history. The colonists said that Parliament and the king, George III, were violating the people’s natural rights. The colonies were on their own for such a long time that they got used to handling stuff their own way. Out of nowhere, the king and Parliament started giving the colonists taxes. From this taxing we got the saying “No taxation without representation.” Some of the taxes they gave the colonists were the Stamp Act, Sugar Act, and the Quartering Act. The Stamp Act was tax on every piece of paper and book published or used. The Sugar Act was a tax on sugar being imported and any food containing sugar. The Quartering Act was when the colonists were forced to house british soldiers, the soldiers were there to enforce the taxes being placed. All of these problems started the American Revolution. First of all, Declaration of Independence was written because the colonies wanted independence from Great Britain. The colonists’ had been …show more content…
The first one was Natural Laws. Natural Laws means that there is an unchanging set of laws the govern human rights. People believe that Natural Laws were created by God and that nobody could change them. The second one is if a government violates the people’s Natural Laws they have the right to abolish the government and make a new government. Third there was an agreement that existed between the colonists and the king. The king could govern the colonies as long as he didn’t violate the people’s rights to life, liberty, and property. The fourth thing was that there was no agreement between the colonies and Parliament. So when Parliament governed and taxed the colonies they did it illegally. The colonies did not have the right to send representatives to
The Declaration of Independence was formed resulting from the treatment of 13 colonies from the British government without representation after subsequent denials to be represented and treated equal. This historic document was revolutionary because it’s what began the transition of our government into a democracy unlike that of parliament in the 1700’s. The British government and their ruling made decisions that didn’t involve what was right for the people; only what was in the best economic interest of parliament. This caused significant hardships on the American colonies which eventually led to them coming together as a people and forming this declaration.
The idea that colonists should have fair rights was revolutionized in the Articles of Confederation. When the first colonies were settled, the monarchy of Great Britain gave charters to groups of people to set up their own government with their own rights. After the French and Indian War, the British government had war debt. As a result, the British taxed the colonists ignoring the rights chartered to them. The British abolished self-government and took control of all the colonies. Making a colonist pay a tax for a valid reason is fine, but only when the colonist’s rights would not be violated. The Articles of Confederation was influenced by insuring each citizen's rights. All the white property owning, tax paying men could vote their state officials. In the Northwest Ordinance,the federal government allowed states to be created when 60,000 free men settled in the territory. After the territory had enough occupants, the government kept their promise by allowing the territory to become a state. Although the state had much more power, people could still fight back. For example, during the depression, the Shay’s Rebellion was a dispute between indebted farmers and the state court. However, the state courts had to pass laws to regulate such rebellions. They abolished a fair trial and grouped gatherings. They deprived some of the colonists of their basic rights. Bad ideas implemented by the British government in the American Revolution may have changed at first, but as the government matured, unfair laws were passed. By viewing the situation of the Shay’s Rebellion, the revolutionary period did not just influence the Articles of Confederation in good
A democracy is a system of government controlled by the people, not by one certain group or individual. In the Declaration of Independence it states that “all men are created equal,” an idea which leads to the concept that all citizens should have the same rights, responsibilities, and influence in the governing of their country. In writing the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson was trying to break his ties with the harsh and non-democratic rule of the British and begin a new, equal society and government for America.
“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” - The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson one of the founding fathers, who fought for the liberty and the pursuit of happiness from Great Britain. In the preamble, the Declaration of Independence states that the reason why the colonies had to choose their independence from Great Britain because they did not want to have a tyranny. The colonies wanted to be separated
In the chapter Kings, Parliament, and Inherited Rights, starts off with the quote about the revolution. The revolution was in the mind and the hearts of people, a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations. The evolution of the revolution began was an argument over rights that changed into struggle for power of each party to assert their rights as it understood them, then afterward struggle for empire as Americans began to conceive a more ambitious and independent course for themselves. Americans believe that legally of all parliamentary statutes was measured against the constitution; on that basis, being unrepresented in Parliament, they denied the rights of the body to tax them directly according to the principles of constitutional law. A particular act focused on in the chapter is the Stamp Act, which imposed a stamp tax ranging from one shilling to six on various commercial and legal documents such as wills, mortgages, and college degrees, as well as on newspapers, almanacs, calendars, pamphlets, playing cards and dice. Also the Trade and Navigation Acts was a parliamentary revenue raised in America would make England governors and their appointees independent of local pressure and more faithful enforcing British statutes. These made the colonies more united. Colonies wanted to distance
The Declaration of Independence was a statement written and approved by members of the Second Continental Congress in Pennsylvania on July 4, 1776. The Declaration was the colonies announcing that they were officially separated from Great Britain and were independent sovereign states. The Declaration can also be seen as a declaration of war, because they are basically saying that they are breaking off from England and if England wants them back they will have to take them back. The Declaration of Independence influenced the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights by introducing the principles and ideals behind their fair and equitable government.
In the American Revolution, the British had firm control over the colonists and began implementing harsh acts to receive money. After the 7 years war, there was a huge money deficit and the British needed a way to regain their financial loss. This led to excessive taxation, which angered the colonists. They felt they were not given a voice in the government and that if they are going to give their money, they should have a voice. The colonists continued to protest these new rules and eventually caused the English Civil War. These struggles from the past led to new rules for the colonists and eventually the Declaration of Independence, which stated that all men were equality. The colonists and British would continue to fight through a revolutionary
This was a document that was written to explain why we should break away from Great Britain and become independent from their laws. It explains that all men (and now women too) are created equal and were born with rights that cannot be taken away…life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To ensure that these rights remain, the people create a government and laws that will protect these rights. When the government starts to act in such a way that these rights are threatened…then the people have the right to change the government or remove it and replace it with a new one. It then continues to list the reasons why they want to sever ties with Great Britain and list the ways they feel they have
The United States is in desperate need for your help, we need great generals to help us fight for our independence. How would it make you feel if you knew you contributed to America's freedom? As the Declaration of independence states, the king is tormenting our people by sending out his officers just to make our lives difficult. Do you really want to live like this? Do you want your child to have a terrible life and suffer? We must fight not only to give our own lives peace but for our child, a man in the Crisis once said, If there has to be trouble, let it come now, so that my child may live in peace. Think of the child and of their futures, look deep into your heart and look at how you wish your children's life to be. The faith of our new world is in our hands, and we must do everything we can to do the best we can with it. We must leave the king, he is absolutely terrible, he is a narcissist who only thinks of himself. The king doesn't care about you and you needs,he ruins everything for the sake of that he has the power to do so. Our king is essentially the devil's advocate, this is why we must leave him and end this.
The third section of the Declaration of Independence is labeled as the Grievances. This passage’s main purpose was to state the colonists’ complaints against the King. America has suffered many times at the hands of the King, and he was neglecting any change to solve the matter between the two lands. He passed the Quartering Act onto them, which required American colonies to provide British soldiers with any needed accommodations and housing. He restricted their trade with all countries except for Britain, which severely impacted their economy and damaged many people’s financial statuses. Also, the King imposed many taxes and laws on the colonists without their consent. These were the Sugar and the Stamp Act, Navigation Acts, the Proclamation of 1763, the Quartering Act, Townshend Acts and the Intolerable Acts. Not only did these laws cause much rebellion and uproar between the two lands, the King also did not do very much to cease the constant conflict. As stated by the founding fathers in the passage,”Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.” In conclusion, The Grievances is the third passage in the Declaration of Independence blaming the King for the tyranny he has put the colonists through.
Many Americans support the Declaration of Independence, because many Americans wanted freedom, or people wanted to be free so they became American citizens. Many people wanted to have land and have freedom so that's why many people came to America. People didn't care how long will it take, how much work will they have to do, but they came in three ships filled with people and children. And eventually they will multiply and be filled with the whole country. They knew the consequences, what would happen and that also many people will die on there way to the new land.
Why is the Declaration of Independence so important? The Declaration of independence is important because of what happened with the Great Britain. In the text of "The Declaration of Independence" it says "Many colonist wanted to separate from Great Britain and form a new country." In 1776, the leaders met in Philadelphia again. They agreed that the colonies should be free and independent states. They asked Thomas Jefferson to write a document for them that expressed these ideas. He wrote the Declaration of Independence which announced that the colonies were independent from Great Britain. The text also says that "they promise Americans three rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". Without this important document the United States would not be free like it is now. Americans deserved to not be under British rule because they should have their own freedom and government.
Throughout the 1760s and early 1770s, the North American colonists found themselves increasingly at odds with British imperial policies regarding taxation and frontier policy. When repeated protests failed to influence British policies, and instead resulted in the closing of the port of Boston and the declaration of martial law in Massachusetts, the colonial governments sent delegates to a Continental Congress to coordinate a colonial boycott of British goods. When fighting broke out between American colonists and British forces in Massachusetts, the Continental Congress worked with local groups, originally intended to enforce the boycott, to coordinate resistance against the British. British officials throughout the colonies increasingly found their authority challenged by informal local governments, although loyalist sentiment remained strong in some areas.
The Declaration of Independence was written to explain, why colonies chose to separate from Great Britain. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson explains that if the government becomes unfair and controlling, a body of people have the right to change governments. Jefferson organized his argument in a format of writing an essay. He organized his document with an introduction, body, and conclusion.