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Toward independence

• The nature and influence of the Declaration of Independence
• Text of the Declaration of Independence

What is the Declaration of Independence?

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Declaration of Independence

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• Table Of Contents

The Declaration of Independence, the founding document of the United States, was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain. It explained why the Congress on July 2 “unanimously” (by the votes of 12 colonies, with New York abstaining) had resolved that “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be Free and Independent States.”

On August 2, 1776, roughly a month after the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, an “engrossed” version was signed at the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall ) in Philadelphia by most of the congressional delegates (engrossing is rendering an official document in a large clear hand). Not all the delegates were present on August 2. Eventually, 56 of them signed the document. Two delegates, John Dickinson and Robert R. Livingston , never signed.

Since 1952 the original parchment document of the Declaration of Independence has resided in the National Archives exhibition hall in Washington, D.C. , along with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights . Before then it had a number of homes and protectors, including the State Department and the Library of Congress . For a portion of World War II it was kept in the Bullion Depository at Fort Knox , Kentucky.

In the 1920s the Declaration of Independence was enclosed in a frame of gold-plated bronze doors and covered with double-paned plate glass with gelatin films between the plates to block harmful light rays. Today it is held in an upright case constructed of ballistically tested glass and plastic laminate. A $3 million camera and computerized system monitor the condition of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution , and Bill of Rights .

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Declaration of Independence , in U.S. history, document that was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and that announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain. It explained why the Congress on July 2 “unanimously” by the votes of 12 colonies (with New York abstaining) had resolved that “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be Free and Independent States.” Accordingly, the day on which final separation was officially voted was July 2, although the 4th, the day on which the Declaration of Independence was adopted, has always been celebrated in the United States as the great national holiday—the Fourth of July , or Independence Day .

On April 19, 1775, when the Battles of Lexington and Concord initiated armed conflict between Britain and the 13 colonies (the nucleus of the future United States), the Americans claimed that they sought only their rights within the British Empire . At that time few of the colonists consciously desired to separate from Britain. As the American Revolution proceeded during 1775–76 and Britain undertook to assert its sovereignty by means of large armed forces, making only a gesture toward conciliation, the majority of Americans increasingly came to believe that they must secure their rights outside the empire. The losses and restrictions that came from the war greatly widened the breach between the colonies and the mother country; moreover, it was necessary to assert independence in order to secure as much French aid as possible.

On April 12, 1776, the revolutionary convention of North Carolina specifically authorized its delegates in the Congress to vote for independence. On May 15 the Virginia convention instructed its deputies to offer the motion—“that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States”—which was brought forward in the Congress by Richard Henry Lee on June 7. John Adams of Massachusetts seconded the motion. By that time the Congress had already taken long steps toward severing ties with Britain. It had denied Parliamentary sovereignty over the colonies as early as December 6, 1775, and on May 10, 1776, it had advised the colonies to establish governments of their own choice and declared it to be “absolutely irreconcilable to reason and good conscience for the people of these colonies now to take the oaths and affirmations necessary for the support of any government under the crown of Great Britain,” whose authority ought to be “totally suppressed” and taken over by the people—a determination which, as Adams said, inevitably involved a struggle for absolute independence.

The passage of Lee’s resolution was delayed for several reasons. Some of the delegates had not yet received authorization to vote for separation; a few were opposed to taking the final step; and several men, among them John Dickinson , believed that the formation of a central government, together with attempts to secure foreign aid , should precede it. However, a committee consisting of Thomas Jefferson , John Adams, Benjamin Franklin , Roger Sherman , and Robert R. Livingston was promptly chosen on June 11 to prepare a statement justifying the decision to assert independence, should it be taken. The document was prepared, and on July 1 nine delegations voted for separation, despite warm opposition on the part of Dickinson. On the following day at the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) in Philadelphia , with the New York delegation abstaining only because it lacked permission to act, the Lee resolution was voted on and endorsed . (The convention of New York gave its consent on July 9, and the New York delegates voted affirmatively on July 15.) On July 19 the Congress ordered the document to be engrossed as “The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America.” It was accordingly put on parchment , probably by Timothy Matlack of Philadelphia. Members of the Congress present on August 2 affixed their signatures to this parchment copy on that day and others later.

The signers were as follows: John Hancock (president), Samuel Adams , John Adams, Robert Treat Paine , and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts; Button Gwinnett , Lyman Hall, and George Walton of Georgia; William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, and John Penn of North Carolina; Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch , Jr., and Arthur Middleton of South Carolina; Samuel Chase , William Paca, Thomas Stone, and Charles Carroll of Maryland; George Wythe , Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison , Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, and Carter Braxton of Virginia; Robert Morris , Benjamin Rush , Benjamin Franklin, John Morton , George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson , and George Ross of Pennsylvania; Caesar Rodney and George Read of Delaware; William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, and Lewis Morris of New York; Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon , Francis Hopkinson , John Hart, and Abraham Clark of New Jersey; Josiah Bartlett , William Whipple, and Matthew Thornton of New Hampshire; Stephen Hopkins and William Ellery of Rhode Island; and Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington , William Williams , and Oliver Wolcott of Connecticut . The last signer was Thomas McKean of Delaware , whose name was not placed on the document before 1777.

Declaration of Independence — Summary, Facts, and Text

July 4, 1776

Drafted by Thomas Jefferson, and edited by luminaries such as Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.

This painting by Howard Pyle depicts Thomas Jefferson working on the Declaration of Independence. Image Source: Google Arts & Culture .

Declaration of Independence Summary

Nearly 250 years since it was signed, the Declaration of Independence remains one of the most seminal political documents ever written. The Declaration consists of three major parts.

The preamble employs the enlightened reasoning of Locke, Rousseau, and Thomas Paine , to establish a philosophical justification for a split with Great Britain.

The main body lists numerous grievances and examples of crimes of the King against the people of the colonies, making him “unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” This section also challenges the legitimacy of legislation enacted by Parliament and chastises the people of England for remaining “deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity.” In the conclusion, the climax of the document, Congress announces to the world that “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.”

On the morning of July 5, Congress sent copies of the Declaration of Independence to various assemblies, conventions, and committees of safety, as well as to the commanders of Continental troops. The die had been cast. Ideas presented in the preamble remained to be earned on the battlefield, but the seeds of a new nation founded upon unalienable rights and the consent of the governed were sown in the Declaration of Independence.

Declaration of Independence Facts

On May 15, 1776, the Virginia Convention passed a resolution that “the delegates appointed to represent this colony in General Congress be instructed to propose to that respectable body to declare the United Colonies free and independent states.”

On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia presented to Congress a motion , “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.”

On June 11, 1776, Congress created a Committee of Five to draft a statement presenting to the world the colonies’ case for independence.

The members of the Committee of Five included Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Robert R. Livingston of New York, and Roger Sherman of Connecticut.

The Committee of Five assigned the task of drafting the Declaration of Independence to Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence between June 11 and June 28, 1776. The draft is most famous for Jefferson’s criticism of King George III for Great Britain’s involvement in the Transatlantic Slave Trade .

On Friday, June 28, 1776, the Committee of Five presented to Congress the document entitled “A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States Of America in General Congress assembled.”

On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress approved Richard Henry Lee’s proposed resolution of June 7, thereby declaring independence from Great Britain.

On July 4, 1776, after two days of debate and editing, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence submitted by the Committee of Five.

The Declaration of Independence is made up of three major parts: the preamble; the body, and the conclusion.

The preamble of the Declaration of Independence establishes a philosophical justification for a split with Britain — all men have rights, the government is established to secure those rights, if and when such government becomes a hindrance to those rights, it should be abolished – or ties to it broken.

The main body of the Declaration lists numerous grievances and examples of crimes of the King against the people of the colonies, making him “; unfit to be the ruler of a free people.”

The main body also challenges the legitimacy of legislation enacted by Parliament and chastises the people of England for remaining “deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity.”

In the conclusion, the climax of the document, Congress announces to the world that “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.”

The first printed copies of the Declaration of Independence were turned out from the shop of John Dunlap, the official printer to the Congress.

The exact number of broadsides printed at John Dunlap’s shop on the evening of July 4 and the morning of July 5 is undetermined but estimated to be between one and two hundred copies.

On the morning of July 5, members of Congress sent copies to various assemblies, conventions, and committees of safety as well as to the commanders of Continental troops.

On July 5, a copy of the printed version of the approved Declaration was inserted into the “rough journal” of the Continental Congress for July 4.

The July 5 copies included the names of only John Hancock and Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress.

There are 24 copies known to exist of what is commonly referred to as “ the Dunlap broadside,” 17 owned by American institutions, 2 by British institutions, and 5 by private owners.

On July 9, the Declaration was officially approved by the New York Convention, completing the approval of all 13 colonies.

On July 19, Congress was able to order that the Declaration be “fairly engrossed on parchment, with the title and stile [sic] of ‘The unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States of America’ and that the same, when engrossed, be signed by every member of Congress.”

Timothy Matlack was probably the person who wrote — or engrossed — the text of the Declaration on the document that was signed. He is known as the “Scribe of the Declaration of Independence.”

Delegates began signing the Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776, after it was engrossed on parchment.

John Hancock, the President of the Congress, was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Other than John Hancock and Charles Thompson, whose names appeared on the original printed versions of the Declaration, the names of the other signers were kept secret until 1777 for fear of British reprisals.

On January 18, 1777, Congress ordered the second official printing of the document, including the names of all of the signers.

The original parchment version of the Declaration of Independence is held by the National Archives and Records Administration, in Washington, D.C.

Declaration of Independence Text

In Congress, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,  When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

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, Governments 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 to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. 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.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

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

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

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

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

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

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

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

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

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 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 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 to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. 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.

Signers of the Declaration of Independence

Connecticut

• Roger Sherman
• Samuel Huntington
• William Williams
• Oliver Wolcott

• Caesar Rodney
• George Read
• Thomas McKean
• Button Gwinnett
• George Walton
• Samuel Chase
• William Paca
• Thomas Stone
• Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Massachusetts

• John Hancock
• Samuel Adams
• Robert Treat Paine
• Elbridge Gerry

New Hampshire

• Josiah Bartlett
• Matthew Thornton
• William Whipple
• Richard Stockton
• John Witherspoon
• Francis Hopkinson
• Abraham Clark
• William Floyd
• Philip Livingston
• Francis Lewis
• Lewis Morris

North Carolina

• William Hooper
• Joseph Hewes

Pennsylvania

• Robert Morris
• Benjamin Rush
• Benjamin Franklin
• John Morton
• George Clymer
• James Smith
• George Taylor
• James Wilson
• George Ross

Rhode Island

• Stephen Hopkins
• William Ellery

South Carolina

• Edward Rutledge
• Thomas Heyward, Jr.
• Thomas Lynch, Jr.
• Arthur Middleton
• George Wythe
• Richard Henry Lee
• Thomas Jefferson
• Benjamin Harrison
• Thomas Nelson, Jr.
• Francis Lightfoot Lee
• Carter Braxton

Declaration of Independence for APUSH

Use the following links and videos to study the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution, and the American Revolutionary War for the AP US History Exam. Also, be sure to look at our Guide to the AP US History Exam .

Declaration of Independence APUSH Definition and Significance

The definition of the Declaration of Independence for APUSH is a foundational document adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. Drafted primarily by Thomas Jefferson, it announced the independence of the 13 Original Colonies from British rule. The document laid out the principles of individual rights and self-government, arguing that all people are entitled to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

The significance of the Declaration of Independence for APUSH is that it justified the decision to separate from Great Britain, and established a set of ideals that eventually led to the creation of the United States Constitution. The Declaration of Independence is considered one of the four founding documents, along with the Articles of Association , the Articles of Confederation , and the Constitution .

Declaration of Independence Explained for APUSH

This video from Heimler’s History explains the Declaration of Independence.

• Content for this article has been compiled and edited by American History Central Staff .

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Writing of Declaration of Independence

By: History.com Editors

Updated: June 22, 2023 | Original: February 22, 2010

At the Second Continental Congress during the summer of 1776, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia was charged with drafting a formal statement justifying the 13 North American colonies’ break with Great Britain. A member of a committee of five that also included John Adams  of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Robert Livingston of New York and Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Jefferson drew up a draft and included Franklin’s and Adams’ corrections. At the time, the Declaration of Independence was regarded as a collective effort of the Continental Congress ; Jefferson was not recognized as its principal author until the 1790s.

Jefferson’s Early Career

Born into one of the most prominent families in Virginia (on his mother’s side), Jefferson studied at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg and began practicing law in 1767. In 1768, Jefferson stood as a candidate for the Virginia House of Burgesses; he entered the legislature just as opposition was building to the taxation policies of the British government. That same year, Jefferson began building Monticello , his hilltop estate in Albemarle County; he would later greatly expand his holdings in land and slaves through his marriage to Martha Wayles Skelton in 1772.

Did you know? After leaving Washington, Thomas Jefferson spent the last two decades of his life at Monticello. He died on July 4, 1826—hours before his good friend and former political rival John Adams—on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

In 1774, Jefferson wrote “A Summary View of the Rights of British America,” in which he claimed that the colonies were tied to the king only by voluntary bonds of loyalty. Published as a political pamphlet without Jefferson’s permission, this document extended Jefferson’s reputation beyond Virginia, and he became known as an eloquent voice for the cause of American independence from Britain. In the spring of 1775, shortly after skirmishes broke out between colonial militiamen and British soldiers at Lexington and Concord, the Virginia legislature sent Jefferson as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

At the Second Continental Congress

The 33-year-old Jefferson may have been a shy, awkward public speaker in Congressional debates, but he used his skills as a writer and correspondent to support the patriotic cause. By the late spring of 1776, more and more colonists favored an official and permanent break from Great Britain; in mid-May, eight of the 13 colonies said they would support independence.

On June 7, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia formally presented a resolution before the Congress, stating that “[T]hese 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.” It became known as the Lee Resolution, or the resolution for independence. 

On June 11, Jefferson was appointed to a five-man committee–alongside John Adams of Massachusetts , Roger Sherman of Connecticut , Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and Robert R. Livingston of New York–that was charged with drafting a formal statement justifying the break with Great Britain. Jefferson was the only southerner on the committee and had arrived in Philadelphia accompanied by three of his many slaves. Still, it was he who was given the task of drafting the Declaration of Independence , which would become the foremost statement of human liberty and equality ever written.

According to an account Jefferson wrote in 1823, the other members of the committee “unanimously pressed on myself alone to undertake the draught [sic]. I consented; I drew it; but before I reported it to the committee I communicated it separately to Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams requesting their corrections…I then wrote a fair copy, reported it to the committee, and from them, unaltered to the Congress.”

“We Hold These Truths to be Self-Evident…”

The body of Jefferson’s draft contained a list of grievances against the British crown, but it was its preamble to the Constitution that would strike the deepest chords in the minds and hearts of future Americans: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

The Continental Congress reconvened on July 1, and the following day 12 of the 13 colonies adopted Lee’s resolution for independence. The process of consideration and revision of Jefferson’s declaration (including Adams’ and Franklin’s corrections) continued on July 3 and into the late morning of July 4, during which Congress deleted and revised some one-fifth of its text.

The delegates made no changes to that key preamble, however, and the basic document remained Jefferson’s words. Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence later on the Fourth of July (though most historians now accept that the document was not signed until August 2).

The Men Who Signed the Declaration of Independence

Delegates from all 13 colonies signed the Declaration of Independence. All were male, white landowners. Two would go on to be president of the United States. One signed his name so large that he became an idiomatic expression. When someone asks you to sign something by telling you to “put your John Hancock here,” they are referencing John Hancock’s outsized signature on the Declaration of I ndependence. Below are the document's signees:

Connecticut : Samuel Huntington, Roger Sherman, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

Delaware : George Read, Caesar Rodney, Thomas McKean

Georgia : Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Maryland : Charles Carroll, Samuel Chase, Thomas Stone, William Paca

Massachusetts : John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

New Hampshire : Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

New Jersey : Abraham Clark, John Hart, Francis Hopkinson, Richard Stockton. John Witherspoon

New York : Lewis Morris, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, William Floyd

North Carolina : William Hooper, John Penn. Joseph Hewes

Pennsylvania : George Clymer, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, John Morton, Benjamin Rush, George Ross, James Smith, James Wilson, George Taylor

Rhode Island : Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

South Carolina : Edward Rutledge, Arthur Middleton, Thomas Lynch, Jr., Thomas Heyward, Jr.

Virginia : Richard Henry Lee, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Jefferson, George Wythe, Thomas Nelson, Jr.

A Complicated Legacy

Thomas Jefferson wasn’t recognized as the principal author of the Declaration of Independence until the 1790s; the document was originally presented as a collective effort by the entire Continental Congress. Jefferson had returned to the Virginia legislature in the late summer of 1776 and in 1785 had succeeded Franklin as minister to France. He served as Secretary of State in the cabinet of President George Washington and later emerged as a leader of a Republican party that championed state’s rights and opposed the strong centralized government favored by Alexander Hamilton’s Federalists.

Elected as the nation’s third president in 1800, Jefferson would serve two terms, during which the young nation doubled its territory through the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and struggled to maintain neutrality during the Napoleonic Wars between England and France.

Despite his many later accomplishments, Jefferson’s principal legacy to the United States arguably remains the Declaration of Independence, the eloquent expression of liberty, equality and democracy upon which the country was founded. His critics, however, point to Jefferson’s admitted racism, and the negative views (common to wealthy Virginia planters of the time) that he expressed about African Americans during his lifetime. 

Meanwhile, recent DNA evidence seems to support much-disputed claims that Jefferson had a longstanding intimate relationship with one of his enslaved women, Sally Hemings and that the couple had several children together. Given these circumstances, Jefferson’s legacy as history’s most eloquent proponent of human freedom and equality–justly earned by his words in the Declaration of Independence–remains complicated by the inconsistencies of his life as a slave owner.

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Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence is the foundational document of the United States of America. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, it explains why the Thirteen Colonies decided to separate from Great Britain during the American Revolution (1765-1789). It was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on 4 July 1776, the anniversary of which is celebrated in the US as Independence Day.

The Declaration was not considered a significant document until more than 50 years after its signing, as it was initially seen as a routine formality to accompany Congress' vote for independence. However, it has since become appreciated as one of the most important human rights documents in Western history. Largely influenced by Enlightenment ideals, particularly those of John Locke , the Declaration asserts that "all men are created equal" and are endowed with the "certain unalienable rights" to "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness"; this has become one of the best-known statements in US history and has become a moral standard that the United States, and many other Western democracies, have since strived for. It has been cited in the push for the abolition of slavery and in many civil rights movements, and it continues to be a rallying cry for human rights to this day. Alongside the Articles of Confederation and the US Constitution, the Declaration of Independence was one of the most important documents to come out of the American Revolutionary era. This article includes a brief history of the factors that led the colonies to declare independence from Britain, as well as the complete text of the Declaration itself.

Road to Independence

For much of the early part of their struggle with Great Britain, most American colonists regarded independence as a final resort, if they even considered it at all. The argument between the colonists and the British Parliament, after all, largely boiled down to colonial identity within the British Empire ; the colonists believed that, as subjects of the British king and descendants of Englishmen, they were entitled to the same constitutional rights that governed the lives of those still in England . These rights, as expressed in the Magna Carta (1215), the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679, and the Bill of Rights of 1689, among other documents, were interpreted by the Americans to include self-taxation, representative government, and trial by jury. Englishmen exercised these rights through Parliament, which, at least theoretically, represented their interests; since the colonists were not represented in Parliament, they attempted to exercise their own 'rights of Englishmen' through colonial legislative assemblies such as Virginia's House of Burgesses .

Parliament, however, saw things differently. It agreed that the colonists were Britons and were subject to the same laws, but it viewed the colonists as no different than the 90% of Englishmen who owned no land and therefore could not vote, but who were nevertheless virtually represented in Parliament. Under this pretext, Parliament decided to directly tax the colonies and passed the Stamp Act in 1765. When the Americans protested that Parliament had no authority to tax them because they were not represented in Parliament, Parliament responded by passing the Declaratory Act (1766), wherein it proclaimed that it had the authority to pass binding legislation for all Britain's colonies "in all Cases whatsoever" (Middlekauff, 118). After doubling down, Parliament taxed the Americans once again with the Townshend Acts (1767-68). When these acts were met with riots in Boston, Parliament sent regiments of soldiers to restore the king's peace. This only led to acts of violence such as the Boston Massacre (5 March 1770) and acts of disobedience such as the Boston Tea Party (16 December 1773).

While the focal point of the argument regarded taxation, the Americans believed that their rights were being violated in other ways as well. As mandated in the so-called Intolerable Acts of 1774, Britain announced that American dissidents would now be tried by Vice-Admiralty courts or shipped to England for trial, thereby depriving them of a jury of peers; British soldiers could be quartered in American-owned buildings; and Massachusetts' representative government was to be suspended as punishment for the Boston Tea Party, with a military governor to be installed. Additionally, there was the question of land; both the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and the Quebec Act of 1774 restricted the westward expansion of Americans, who believed they were entitled to settle the West. While the colonies viewed themselves as separate polities within the British Empire and would not view themselves as a single entity for many years to come, they had nevertheless become bound together over the years due to their shared Anglo background and through their military cooperation during the last century of colonial wars with France. Their resistance to Parliament only tied them closer together and, after the passage of the Intolerable Acts, the colonies announced support for Massachusetts and began mobilizing their militias.

When the American Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, all thirteen colonies soon joined the rebellion and sent representatives to the Second Continental Congress, a provisional wartime government. Even at this late stage, independence was an idea espoused by only the most radical revolutionaries like Samuel Adams . Most colonists still believed that their quarrel was with Parliament alone, that King George III of Great Britain (r. 1760-1820) secretly supported them and would reconcile with them if given the opportunity; indeed, just before the Battle of Bunker Hill (17 June 1775), regiments of American rebels reported for duty by announcing that they were "in his Majesty's service" (Boatner, 539). In August 1775, King George III dispelled such notions when he issued his Proclamation of Rebellion, in which he announced that he considered the colonies to be in a state of rebellion and ordered British officials to endeavor to "withstand and suppress such rebellion". Indeed, George III would remain one of the biggest advocates of subduing the colonies with military force; it was after this moment that Americans began referring to him as a tyrant and hope of reconciliation with Britain diminished.

Writing the Declaration

By the spring of 1776, independence was no longer a radical idea; Thomas Paine 's widely circulated pamphlet Common Sense had made the prospect more appealing to the general public, while the Continental Congress realized that independence was necessary to procure military support from European nations. In March 1776, the revolutionary convention of North Carolina became the first to vote in favor of independence, followed by seven other colonies over the next two months. On 7 June, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced a motion putting the idea of independence before Congress; the motion was so fiercely debated that Congress decided to postpone further discussion of Lee's motion for three weeks. In the meantime, a committee was appointed to draft a Declaration of Independence, in the event that Lee's motion passed. This five-man committee was comprised of Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Robert R. Livingston of New York, John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia.

The Declaration was primarily authored by the 33-year-old Jefferson, who wrote it between 11 June and 28 June 1776 on the second floor of the Philadelphia home he was renting, now known as the Declaration House. Drawing heavily on the Enlightenment ideas of John Locke, Jefferson places the blame for American independence largely at the feet of the king, whom he accuses of having repeatedly violated the social contract between America and Great Britain. The Americans were declaring their independence, Jefferson asserts, only as a last resort to preserve their rights, having been continually denied redress by both the king and Parliament. Jefferson's original draft was revised and edited by the other men on the committee, and the Declaration was finally put before Congress on 1 July. By then, every colony except New York had authorized its congressional delegates to vote for independence, and on 4 July 1776, the Congress adopted the Declaration. It was signed by all 56 members of Congress; those who were not present on the day itself affixed their signatures later.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America. When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to separation. Remove Ads Advertisement 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, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, – That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive toward these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such a form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. – Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. 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. He has refused to Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. Remove Ads Advertisement He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. Love History? Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter! He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws of Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences: For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rules into these Colonies For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated Government here, be declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death , desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections against us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare , is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends. 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 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 to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. – 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.

The following is a list of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence, many of whom are considered the Founding Fathers of the United States. John Hancock , as president of the Continental Congress, was the first to affix his signature. Robert R. Livingston was the only member of the original drafting committee to not also sign the Declaration, as he had been recalled to New York before the signing took place.

Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry.

New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton.

Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins , William Ellery.

Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott.

New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris.

New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark.

Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross.

Delaware: George Read, Caesar Rodney, Thomas McKean.

Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton.

Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton.

North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn.

South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward Jr., Thomas Lynch Jr., Arthur Middleton.

Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton.

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Bibliography

• Boatner, Mark M. Cassell's Biographical Dictionary of the American War of Independence. London: Cassell, 1973., 1973.
• Britannica: Text of the Declaration of Independence Accessed 25 Mar 2024.
• Declaration of Independence - Signed, Writer, Date | HISTORY Accessed 25 Mar 2024.
• Declaration of Independence: A Transcription | National Archives Accessed 25 Mar 2024.
• Meacham, Jon. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2013.
• Middlekauff, Robert. The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789. Oxford University Press, 2007.
• Wood, Gordon S. The Radicalism of the American Revolution. Vintage, 1993.

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Course: US history   >   Unit 11

The declaration of independence.

• The Articles of Confederation
• The Constitution of the United States
• Frederick Douglass, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"
• Letter from a Birmingham Jail

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Declaration of Independence, 1776

A spotlight on a primary source by continental congress.

The most radical idea advanced by the American revolutionaries was the proposition set forth in the Declaration of Independence 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."

In 1776, Peter Timothy of Charleston printed this copy of the Declaration of Independence and brought the news of independence to South Carolina. In doing so, he risked his life. The son of French Huguenots who arrived in 1731, Timothy inherited the press after the death of his father. In 1738, he became publisher of the Gazette of South Carolina.

Peter Timothy became an ardent supporter of the patriot cause. Fearing the British would confiscate his press, Timothy temporarily suspended publication from 1775 to 1777. Yet, when news of the Declaration reached Charleston in early August of 1776, he quickly rebuilt his press to spread the news. He paid a high price for his patriotism. He was arrested in 1780 on charges of treason and spent time on a British prisoner-of-war ship before being sent to a prison in St. Augustine, Florida. His family was exiled by the British to Philadelphia. After the war, Peter was sailing to Antigua when he was lost at sea. His wife inherited the printing business.

This broadside is not only the earliest printing of the Declaration in Charleston; it is also the only known existing copy of the document printed by Peter Timothy.

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, Governments 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 to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. 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 the States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.

Questions for Discussion

Read the introduction and transcript and view the document. Use information from these as well as your knowledge of American history to answer the following questions.

• Define the words “tyrant” and “tyranny.” Locate where those words are inserted into the Declaration. Why do you think Jefferson repeatedly used those words? Defend your answer by referring to the specific text.
• Why do some consider Peter Timothy as much a true patriot as Revolutionary leaders John Hancock, George Washington, and John Adams?
• Rather than refer to the “King,” “His Royal Highness,” or “His Majesty,” Thomas Jefferson lists a series of accusations with “He has . . . ” Why do you think Jefferson used that style?
• Identify what you consider to be the five most serious accusations. Explain your selection.
• To what audience was Jefferson writing the Declaration?
• How does the Declaration also place considerable blame on the British Parliament?

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United States Declaration of Independence Definition Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
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Declaration of Independence is a document that is most treasured in United State since it announced independence to American colonies which were at war with Great Britain. It was drafted by Thomas Jefferson back in July 1776 and contained formal explanation of the reason why the Congress had declared independence from Great Britain.

Therefore, the document marked the independence of the thirteen colonies of America, a condition which had caused revolutionary war. America celebrates its day of independence on 4 th July, the day when the congress approved the Declaration for Independence (Becker, 2008). With that background in mind, this essay shall give an analysis of the key issues closely linked to the United States Declaration of Independence.

As highlighted in the introductory part, there was the revolutionary war in the thirteen American colonies before the declaration for independence that had been going on for about a year. Immediately after the end of the Seven Years War, the relationship between American colonies and their mother country started to deteriorate. In addition, some acts which were established in order to increase tax revenue from the colonies ended up creating a tax dispute between the colonies and the Government (Fradin, 2006).

The main reason why the Declaration for Independence was written was to declare the convictions of Americans especially towards their rights. The main aim was to declare the necessity for independence especially to the colonist as well as to state their view and position on the purpose of the government. In addition, apart from making their grievances known to King George III, they also wanted to influence other foreigners like the France to support them in their struggle towards independence.

Most authors and historians believe that the main influence of Jefferson was the English Declaration of Rights that marked the end King James II Reign. As much as the influence of John Locke who was a political theorist from England is questioned, it is clear that he influenced the American Revolution a great deal. Although most historians criticize the Jefferson’s influence by some authors like Charles Hutcheson, it is clear that the philosophical content of the Declaration emanates from other philosophical writings.

The self evident truths in the Declaration for Independence is that all men are created equal and do also have some rights which ought not to be with held at all costs. In addition, the document also illustrated that government is formed for the sole purpose of protecting those rights as it is formed by the people who it governs. Finally, if the government losses the consent, it then qualifies to be either replaced or abolished. Such truths are not only mandatory but they do not require any further emphasis.

Therefore, being self evident means that each truth speaks on its own behalf and should not be denied at whichever circumstances (Zuckert, 1987). The main reason why they were named as self evident was to influence the colonists to see the reality in the whole issue. Jefferson based his argument from on the theory of natural rights as illustrated by John Locke who argued that people have got rights which are not influenced by laws in the society (Tuckness, 2010).

One of the truths in the Declaration for Independence is the inalienable rights which are either individual or collective. Such rights are inclusive of right to liberty, life and pursuit of happiness. Unalienable rights means rights which cannot be denied since they are given by God. In addition, such rights cannot even be sold or lost at whichever circumstance. Apart from individual rights, there are also collective rights like the right of people to chose the right government and also to abolish it incase it fails achieve its main goal.

The inalienable goals are based on the law of nature as well as on the nature’s God as illustrated in the John Locke’s philosophy. It is upon the government to recognize that individuals are entitled to unalienable rights which are bestowed by God. Although the rights are not established by the civil government, it has a great role to ensure that people are able to express such laws in the constitution (Morgan, 2010).

Explaining the purpose of the government was the major intent of the Declaration for Independent. The document explains explicitly that the main purpose is not only to secure but also to protect the rights of the people from individual and life events that threaten them. However, it is important to note that the government gets its power from the people it rules or governs.

The purpose of the government of protecting the God given rights of the people impacts the decision making process in several ways. To begin with, the government has to consider the views of the people before making major decisions failure to which it may be considered unworthy and be replaced. Therefore, the decision making process becomes quite complex as several positions must be taken in to consideration.

The declaration identifies clearly the conditions under which the government can be abolished or replaced. For example, studies of Revolutionary War and Beyond, states that “any form of government becomes destructive of these ends; it is the right of the people, to alter or abolish it and institute a new government” (par. 62010). Therefore, document illustrated that the colonists were justified to reject or abolish the British rule.

The declaration was very significant especially due to the fact that it illustrated explicitly the conditions which were present in America by the time it was being made. For example, one of the key grievances of the thirteen colonies was concerning the issue of slave trade. The issue of abolishing slavery was put in the first draft of the declaration for independent although it was scrapped off later since the southern states were against the abolishment of slave trade.

Another issue which was illustrated in the declaration was the fact that the king denied the colonists the power to elect their representatives in the legislatures. While the colonists believed that they had the right to choose the government to govern them, in the British government, it was the duty of the King to do so.

Attaining land and migrating to America was the right of colonists to liberty and since the King had made it extremely difficult for the colonists to do so; the Declaration was very significant in addressing such grievances. There are many more problems that were present that were addressed by the Declaration as it was its purpose to do so.

Becker, C. L. (2008). The Declaration of Independence: A Study in the History of Political Ideas. Illinois: BiblioBazaar, LLC .

Fradin, D. B. (2006). The Declaration of Independence. New York : Marshall Cavendish.

Morgan, K. L. (2010). The Declaration of Independence, Equality and Unalienable Rights . Web.

Revolutionary War and Beyond. (2010). The Purpose of the Declaration of Independence . Web.

Tuckness, A. (2010). Locke’s Political Philosophy . Web.

Zuckert, M. P. (1987). Self-Evident Truth and the Declaration of Independence. The Review of Politics , 49 (3), 319-339.

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IvyPanda. (2018, July 18). United States Declaration of Independence. https://ivypanda.com/essays/declaration-of-independence/

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IvyPanda . 2018. "United States Declaration of Independence." July 18, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/declaration-of-independence/.

1. IvyPanda . "United States Declaration of Independence." July 18, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/declaration-of-independence/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "United States Declaration of Independence." July 18, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/declaration-of-independence/.

Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence

Written by: bill of rights institute, by the end of this section, you will:.

• Explain how and why colonial attitudes about government and the individual changed in the years leading up to the American Revolution

Suggested Sequencing

Use this Narrative with the Signing the Declaration of Independence Decision Point to give students a full picture of the declaration.

In early 1776, war raged across the colonies. The siege of Boston had been lifted, but a larger British invasion force was preparing to attack New York. The colonies were drawing up their own constitutions and declaring their rights. It was time for the Continental Congress to confront the pressing question of independence.

In mid-January, pamphleteer Thomas Paine published Common Sense , which attacked King George III as a “royal brute” and undermined the idea of hereditary monarchy. Paine argued for independence and liberty. He proclaimed that “in free countries the law ought to be king.” The forty-six-page pamphlet is reputed to have sold an incredible 150,000 copies (to a population of not quite three million), giving it an even wider audience, because people passed it around or publicly read it aloud. Common Sense excited a colonial thirst for independence.

On May 15, Congress passed a resolution calling on assemblies and conventions to “adopt such government as shall, in the opinion of the representatives of the people, best conduce to the happiness and safety of their constituents in particular and America in general.” Massachusetts delegate John Adams thought drawing up republican-written constitutions was an act of “independence itself.” He added a preamble that forcefully asserted:

It is necessary that the exercise of every kind of authority under the said Crown should be totally suppressed, and all the powers of government exerted, under the authority of the people of the colonies, for the preservation of internal peace, virtue, and good order, as well as for the defense of their lives, liberties, and properties, against the hostile invasions and cruel depredations of their enemies.

The same day, the Virginia Convention directed its delegates in Philadelphia to “propose to that respectable body to declare the United Colonies free and independent states, absolved from all allegiance to, or dependence upon, the crown or parliament of Great Britain.” As fighting raged between colonists and redcoats, momentum for independence continued to build.

On June 7, Virginian Richard Henry Lee rose on the floor of Congress and proposed 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.” The controversial resolution sparked a contentious debate. Delegate John Dickinson, who in his essay Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania had protested British actions in the colonies, argued against the call for independence, believing the time was not yet right for separation and that violence should not be used to resolve the conflict. Other delegates, like Edward Rutledge from South Carolina and James Wilson of Pennsylvania, opposed Lee’s resolution on principle, because they had not been authorized to support it by their constituents.

Congress appointed a committee of five – John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman, and Thomas Jefferson – to draft a Declaration of Independence. The committee, in turn, assigned the task of writing the document to thirty-three-year-old Jefferson. The reason, John Adams later reflected, was “the elegance of his pen.” Jefferson was the author of several important works on natural rights and republican government, including the 1774 pamphlet, Summary View of the Rights of British North America , in which he wrote that the rights of the people were “derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate.” In July 1775, Jefferson had also written the “Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms.”

Jefferson had with him a copy of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which had been printed in the Pennsylvania Gazette on June 12. That influential document asserted the rights of nature and maintained that the purpose of government was to ensure:

That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.

On the evenings of June 12 and 13, Jefferson sat in his boardinghouse and composed a draft of the Declaration of Independence. He submitted it to Adams and the committee, which made several edits, and the document was sent to Congress.

This famous 1819 painting by John Trumbull shows members of the committee entrusted with drafting the Declaration of Independence presenting their work to the Continental Congress in 1776. Note the British flags on the wall. From the British perspective, each man who signed this document was committing treason.

On July 1, while a thunderstorm raged outside, Congress held an epic debate between John Dickinson and John Adams. Dickinson opposed a hasty separation with Britain and argued for reconciliation. He warned his fellow delegates that they were about to “brave the storm in a skiff made of paper.” Adams passionately advocated for declaring independence. After nine hours of speeches that ran into the evening, four colonies still voted against Richard Henry Lee’s resolution for independence.

With the other two members of Delaware’s delegation in disagreement, Caesar Rodney mounted a horse and rode seventy miles through the rain to break the tie, arriving the next morning to ensure the colony’s vote in favor of independence. Dickinson and Robert Morris abstained and allowed the Pennsylvania delegation’s vote for independence, despite their personal opposition. South Carolina held out until Rutledge, recognizing the importance of a unanimous declaration by the entire Congress, decided to change his vote in favor of the resolution. New York’s delegates, awaiting instructions from their legislature, abstained for several days. Nonetheless, on July 2, Congress voted to approve Lee’s resolution. John Adams exulted to his wife Abigail that Americans would celebrate the day forever as their day of independence.

Congress revised the Declaration of Independence the following day and altered approximately a quarter of the text, making the final product an expression of the entire Congress. Heavily influenced by John Locke’s social contract idea in his Second Treatise of Government , the document called for a government created by the consent of the people, recognizing that rights came not from government but from “nature and nature’s God.” It proclaimed that “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.” The Declaration argued that republican government was based on a social compact in which the sovereign people voluntarily consented to govern themselves through representatives entrusted with protecting their inalienable rights. The people had the right to overthrow a government that violated their natural rights:

That to secure these rights, governments 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 to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

A list of grievances indicted the king for “repeated injuries and usurpations” of the colonists’ rights. Taken together, these offenses proved a “design to reduce them under absolute despotism.” This attempt to impose “an absolute tyranny” justified severing their connection with the British Crown and declaring independence. With a “firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence,” the delegates pledged to each other “our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

Adopted on July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read to enthusiastic crowds and members of the army. No longer colonists, Americans had laid the foundation for their republic in the universal principles of natural rights and consensual self-government.

Review Questions

1. Which of the following documents did the most to shift public opinion toward independence in early 1776?

• The Declaration of Independence
• Common Sense
• The May 15 Resolution
• John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government

2. Which of the following is the most accurate description of the process of declaring independence?

• The notion of natural rights of life, liberty, and property was a radical, and uniquely American, ideal.
• The Declaration of Independence was written solely by Thomas Jefferson and passed without revision by Congress.
• The Declaration of Independence was unanimously supported by the Continental Congress, which reflected the unanimity of popular opinion on the issue.
• The writing of an official declaration was precipitated by increased British aggression, and full-scale war was imminent, which was a tipping point for Congress.

3. Which document was a national bestseller that argued for American independence and convinced many colonists to become Patriots?

• Declaration of Independence
• Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom
• Olive Branch Petition

4. Which of the following best explains the process of writing the Declaration of Independence?

• Thomas Jefferson took it upon himself to write the document without guidance from the Continental Congress.
• After multiple calls for independence, a committee was created to collaborate on a document that would go through revisions and debate.
• A small radical faction within the Continental Congress met without permission to write a document that would galvanize the independence movement.
• By May 1776, each colony was convinced of the need for independence, and all worked together to create a document that represented their views.

5. Which colony was the first to call for “free and independent states?”

• Massachusetts
• South Carolina

6. Which of the following documents did not influence Thomas Jefferson as he wrote the Declaration?

• John Locke’s Treatise on Government
• Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
• George Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights
• Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan

7. When the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, it

• was the culmination of thorough debate and extensive negotiation necessary to achieve a unanimous decision
• was then published for colonists who were to vote on whether they supported it
• was positively received by the Loyalists who wanted colonists to form their own country and leave Great Britain
• immediately created a new country that was recognized by other powers like France

8. The Declaration of Independence did not include

• a list of grievances against the king
• a statement of political theory articulating that the government was responsible to the people
• a list of signatures that made the signers vulnerable to prosecution for treason if they lost the war or were captured
• an Olive Branch Petition listing conditions that, if met by the British, would result in the colonists’ withdrawing the Declaration

Free Response Questions

• Identify and explain two different ideological origins that shaped colonial thinking about independence and republican self-government.
• How was the adoption of independence part of a moment of great deliberation and compromise for the colonies?

AP Practice Questions

“Whereas his Britannic Majesty, in conjunction with the lords and commons of Great Britain, has, by a late act of Parliament, excluded the inhabitants of these United Colonies from the protection of his crown; And whereas, no answer, whatever, to the humble petitions of the colonies for redress of grievances and reconciliation with Great Britain, has been or is likely to be given; but, the whole force of that kingdom, aided by foreign mercenaries, is to be exerted for the destruction of the good people of these colonies; And whereas, it appears absolutely irreconcileable to reason and good Conscience, for the people of these colonies now to take the oaths and affirmations necessary for the support of any government under the crown of Great Britain, and it is necessary that the exercise of every kind of authority under the said crown should be totally suppressed, and all the powers of government exerted, under the authority of the people of the colonies, for the preservation of internal peace, virtue, and good order, as well as for the defence of their lives, liberties, and properties, against the hostile invasions and cruel depredations of their enemies; therefore, resolved, &c.”

John Adams, Preamble, May 15, 1776

1. Why did John Adams tell Abigail Adams that the preamble to the May 15 Resolution was “a compleat Seperation” and “a total absolute Independence, not only of her Parliament but of her Crown”?

• The preamble sought to reconcile with Great Britain through additional petitions.
• Reason and conscience dictated that colonists could no longer proclaim allegiance to Britain.
• Regardless of the powers exerted, it was not possible for the colonies to preserve internal peace, virtue, and good order on their own.
• The colonies were still loyal to the king even if Parliament passed repressive measures.

“A DECLARATION OF RIGHTS made by the representatives of the good people of Virginia, assembled in full and free Convention, which rights do pertain to them and their posterity, as the basis and foundation of government. 1. THAT all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. 2. That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the people; that magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all times amenable to them.”

2. Why did John Adams tell Abigail Adams that the preamble to the May 15 Resolution was “a compleat Seperation” and “a total absolute Independence, not only of her Parliament but of her Crown”?

• The Declaration of Independence partially echoed the Virginia Declaration of Rights, featuring similar language and ideals.
• The Declaration of Independence built on the assertions of the Virginia Declaration of Rights and officially created a national government.
• The Declaration of Independence responded to the Virginia Declaration of Rights by offering an opposing view on natural rights and independence.
• The Declaration of Independence led to the creation of Virginia Declaration of Rights and other state declarations that were aligned with its vision.

“With respect to our rights, and the acts of the British government contravening those rights, there was but one opinion on this side of the water. All American whigs thought alike on these subjects. When forced therefore to resort to arms for redress, an appeal to the tribunal of the world was deemed proper for our justification. This was the object of the Declaration of Independence. Not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said before; but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject; [. . .] terms so plain and firm, as to command their assent, and to justify ourselves in the independent stand we [. . .] compelled to take. Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the american mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion. All it’s authority rests then on the harmonising sentiments of the day, whether expressed, in conversns in letters, printed essays or in the elementary books of public right, as Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, Sidney Etc.”

Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Henry Lee, May 8, 1825

3. According to Thomas Jefferson, what was the purpose of the Declaration of Independence at the moment of its drafting?

• To counter the arguments of the Tories against independence
• To express common political principles and their basis in natural rights
• To set a plan for a new system and organization of government, namely one that was based in republican ideals
• To compromise between two factions of Congress and lay out their common agreements about the present state of the colonies

“They begin, my Lord, with a false hypothesis, That the Colonies are one distinct people and the kingdom another, connected by political bands. The Colonies, politically considered, never were a distinct people from the kingdom. There never has been but one political band, and that was just the same before the first Colonists emigrated as it has been ever since. . . . I should therefore be impertinent if I attempted to show in what case a whole people may be justified in rising up in oppugnation [opposition] to the powers of government, altering or abolishing them and substituting, in whole or in part, new powers in their stead; or in what sense all men are created equal, or how far life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness may be said to be unalienable. Only I could wish to ask the Delegates of Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas how their Constituents justify the depriving more than an hundred thousand Africans of their rights to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and in some degree to their lives, if these rights are so absolutely unalienable; nor shall I attempt to confute the absurd notions of government or to expose the equivocal or inconclusive expressions contained in this Declaration; but rather to show the false representation made of the facts which are alleged to be the evidence of injuries and usurpations, and the special motives to Rebellion. There are many of them, with designs, left obscure; for as soon as they are developed, instead of justifying, they rather aggravate the criminality of this Revolt.”

Governor Thomas Hutchinson, Strictures Upon the Declaration of the Congress at Philadelphia , London, 1776

4. Which of the following is not a main assertion of Governor Hutchinson when discussing the Declaration of Independence?

• He refutes the idea that the colonists are a distinct body separate from England.
• He argues that colonists don’t treat all men equally, specifically citing slaves in the south.
• He feels the information has been manipulated and is not an accurate representation of the situation in the colonies.
• He understands the complaints of the colonists and empathizes with them but argues that with some concessions, they can be folded back into the Empire.

5. The excerpt provided could be used by historians to support which of the following arguments?

• Support for the revolution against Great Britain was unanimous in the colonies.
• Delegates from southern colonies would find it difficult to explain how rights of enslaved people are unalienable.
• Patriots ridiculed the principle that political bands ever connected them with Britain.
• The Declaration of Independence included diverse opinions.

Primary Sources

Adams, John. V. Preamble to Resolution on Independent Governments , 15 May 1776. Founders Online , National Archives. https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/06-04-02-0001-0006

Declaration of Independence. July 4, 1776. Independence Hall Association. http://www.ushistory.org/DECLARATION/document/

Jefferson, Thomas. “Document: Letter to Henry Lee. May 8, 1825.” TeachingAmericanHistory.org. http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/letter-to-henry-lee/

Virginia Declaration of Rights. June 12, 1776. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. https://www.history.org/Almanack/life/politics/varights.cfm

Suggested Resources

Allen, Danielle. Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Favor of Equality . New York: Liveright, 2014.

Arnn, Larry P. The Founders’ Key: The Divine and Natural Connection Between the Declaration and the Constitution and What We Risk by Losing It. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2012.

Becker, Carl. The Declaration of Independence: A Study in the History of Political Ideas . New York: Vintage, 1922.

Beeman, Richard. Our Lives, Our Fortunes, and Our Sacred Honor: The Forging of American Independence, 1774-1776 . New York: Basic, 2013.

Ellis, Joseph J. Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence . New York: Knopf, 2013.

Hogeland, William. Declaration: The Nine Tumultuous Weeks When America Became Independent, May 1-July 4, 1776 . New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010.

Maier, Pauline. American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence . New York: Vintage, 1997.

Wills, Garry. Inventing America: Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence . Garden City: Doubleday, 1978.

Related Content

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

In our resource history is presented through a series of narratives, primary sources, and point-counterpoint debates that invites students to participate in the ongoing conversation about the American experiment.

• Lesson Plans
• Teacher's Guides
• Media Resources

Declare the Causes: The Declaration of Independence

Declaration of Independence: July 4th 1776.

Library of Congress

Complaints! Complaints! Students have been known to complain at times. (So have their teachers.) Even the Founding Fathers of our country indulged in gripe sessions. In fact, a list of grievances comprises the longest section of the Declaration of Independence; however, the source of the document's power is its firm philosophic foundation. Through the lens of the human propensity to complain, you can encourage students to recognize the principles, motivations, and precedents that underlie the Declaration of Independence. Help your students understand the development of the Declaration as both a historical process and a compositional process through role play, creative writing, an introduction to important documents and a review of historic events.

Guiding Questions

What precedents exist for specific elements in the Declaration of Independence, both in previous documents and in historical events?

How is the Declaration structured?

Learning Objectives

Describe and list the sections of the Declaration of Independence and explain the purpose of each.

Give an example of a document that served as a precedent for the Declaration of Independence.

Identify and explain one or more of the colonists' complaints included in the Declaration of Independence.

Demonstrate an awareness of the Declaration of Independence as a historical process developed in protest of unfair conditions.

Lesson Plan Details

Opponents of the Stamp Act of 1765 declared that the act—which was designed to raise money to support the British army stationed in America after 1763 by requiring Americans to buy stamps for newspapers, legal documents, mortgages, liquor licenses, even playing cards and almanacs—was illegal and unjust because it taxed Americans without their consent. In protesting the act, they cited the following prohibition against taxation without consent:

"No scutage [tax] ... shall be imposed..., unless by common counsel..."

The source? The Magna Carta , written in 1215, 550 years earlier. American resistance forced the British Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act in 1766. In the succeeding years, similar taxes were levied by British Parliament and protested by many Americans. The American Revolution brewed in a context of Americans' concern over contemporary events as well as awareness of historic precedents. Mindful of both, the framers created the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, in which the colonies declared their freedom from British rule.

NCSS.D2.Civ.1.3-5. Distinguish the responsibilities and powers of government officials at various levels and branches of government and in different times and places.

NCSS.D2.Civ.2.3-5. Explain how a democracy relies on people’s responsible participation, and draw implications for how individuals should participate.

NCSS.D2.His.3.3-5. Generate questions about individuals and groups who have shaped significant historical changes and continuities.

NCSS.D2.His.4.3-5. Explain why individuals and groups during the same historical period differed in their perspectives.

Review the lesson plans. Bookmark or download and print out any materials you will use. Make copies of a transcript of the Declaration for every student. You may wish to provide students with a copy of the Written Document Analysis Worksheet , available through the Educator Resources section of the National Archives website, to guide them as they review primary source documents.

Activity 1. Complaints, Complaints...

Discuss with students that you have overheard them, at times, make various complaints about the treatment of young people. Complaints not unlike those motivated the Founding Fathers at the time of the American Revolution. Give the students a short time in small groups to list complaints they have about the treatment of young people. The complaints should be of a general nature (for example: recess should be longer, fourth graders should be able to see PG videos, etc.). Collect the list. Choose complaints to share with the class, so you can guide the discussion to follow. Save the lists for future reference.

There are moments when all of us are more eager to express what's wrong than we are to think critically about the problem and possible solutions. There is no reason to think people were any different in 1776. It's important to understand the complaints of the colonists as one step in a process involving careful deliberation and attempts to redress grievances. Ask questions to help your students consider their concerns in a deliberate way. WHO makes the rules they don't like, WHO decides if they are fair or not, HOW does one get them changed, WHAT does it mean to be independent from the rules, and finally, HOW does a group of people declare that they will no longer follow the rules?

Activity 2. So, What are You Going to Do About It?

Ask the students to imagine that, in hopes of effecting some changes, they are going to compose a document based on their complaints to be sent to the appropriate audience. As they begin to compose their document, they should consider the following questions. (Note to the teacher: The following questions correspond to the sections of the Declaration, as noted in parentheses, which will be discussed later. This discussion serves as a prewriting activity for the writing assignment.)

• To whom would you send your complaints? Why? What reasons would you give for your decision to write out your complaints? (Preamble)  
• What makes you think your complaints are worthwhile? Aren't there good reasons why things are the way they are? Why should things as they are be changed? Would it be possible to summarize the thinking behind your desire for change in a single sentence? (statement of beliefs, or the thinking behind the complaints)  
• Is there anything in particular the reader should notice about your complaints? Is there anything you need to keep in mind to make sure your audience understands and appreciates your complaints? What kinds of events inspired your complaints? (the list of complaints)  
• Have you already tried to make any changes in the treatment of young people? In what way? (prior attempts to redress grievances)  
• Is it possible to say in a single sentence what it is you really want to happen? It would take time to change the system to accommodate all of your complaints. What should happen right away? (Declaration of Independence)  
• Who would be willing to sign his/her name to this list of complaints even if it were going to be seen and read by many people? (the signatures)

Activity 3. The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America

The Declaration of Independence was created in an atmosphere of complaints about the treatment of the colonies under British rule. In this unit, students will be given the opportunity to compose a document based on their own complaints; however, the resulting "declarations" might be more convincing if based on some models already proven effective.

The above video from Schoolhouse Rock  is entitled "Fireworks" and focuses on the Declaration of Independence.  Provide every student with a transcript of the Declaration . There is no need to do a close reading of the entire document at this point. The immediate goal is to understand the structure of the document and the basic intent of each section. Discuss the Declaration with students, using the following section-by-section questions help students relate this overview of the Declaration to the previous discussion.

• Preamble: the reasons for writing down the Declaration (from "WHEN, in the Course of human Events" to "declare the Causes which impel them to the Separation."). What reason(s) did the Founding Fathers give for their decision to write out a declaration?
• Statement of beliefs: specifying what the undersigned believed, the philosophy behind the document (from "We hold these Truths to be self-evident" to "an absolute Tyranny over these States"). What beliefs did the Founding Fathers declare they held?
• List of complaints: the offenses that impelled the declaration (from "To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World" to "unfit to be the ruler of a free people"). What are a few of the complaints? Are any specific events mentioned? If not, is the information given sometimes sufficient to figure out to which events the complaints refer?
• Statement of prior attempts to redress grievances: (From "Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren," to "Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.") In what way(s) did the framers claim to have already tried in addressing the complaints?
• Declaration of independence: (From "WE, therefore" to "and our sacred Honour.") What will change in the colonies as a result of the Declaration?
• The signatures: Which signers do students recognize?

Activity 4. When, in the Course of Human Events ...

Working alone or in small groups, students draft their own declarations. The transcript of the Declaration of Independence will serve as a model; student documents should contain the same sections. They should start with their reasons for writing (preamble), as discussed above. Tell students they can model their statement after the Preamble to the Declaration. For example, they can begin with the words "When, in the course of human events ..."

Activity 5. What Experience Hath Shown

After a session of work on their declarations, introduce to students the idea of earlier documents that set a precedent for the Declaration. Let students know that the committee members who drafted our Declaration (John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Robert R. Livingston of New York and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia) were aware of documents from earlier years. Some of these documents served as models as the committee members wrote the Declaration. Perhaps seeing precedents for the Declaration will help students in composing theirs. Ask students to work in small groups to review some of the earlier documents and find common features between the historical documents and the Declaration. If desired and appropriate for your class, this would be a good time to read the entire Declaration. Students should look at the historical documents for similar structures (the document has a preamble, for instance) or phrases or passages that relate to the Declaration. As they read the excerpts, students should refer back to their transcript of the Declaration of Independence. Students should not attempt close readings of the documents. Instead, they scan key passages for similarities. (If you wish, you could have students locate documents on their own, using The Avalon Project At The Yale Law School website, accessible through EDSITEment.) The following documents are available through The Avalon Project unless otherwise noted.

• The Magna Carta (June 1215). Of structural interest is the preamble and the last section (#63). What differences and similarities do the students notice? Section 1 and Section 12 also have relevant content. The National Archives website features a translation of its 1297 copy of the Magna Carta and videos about the document's conservation  and  encasement .  
• The First Charter of Virginia  (April 10, 1606). A relevant section begins "And we do also ordain, establish, and agree, for Us, our Heirs, and Successors, that each of the said Colonies shall have a Council" and ends "pass under the Privy Seal of our Realm of England;" a statement of the colonists' ability to pass laws. Also of interest is the section beginning, "Also we do, for Us, our Heirs, and Successors, DECLARE" to "any other of our said Dominions."
• The Mayflower Compact (November, 1621).
• English Bill of Rights (1689) for comparison to the list of grievances (such as quartering troops, a standing army, suspending of laws).
• The Royal Proclamation (October 7, 1763) issued at the conclusion of the French and Indian War. Look at the section beginning with "for the security of the Liberties and Properties" and ending with "and call General Assemblies."
• The Resolutions of the Continental Congress , also known as The Stamp Act Congress (October 19, 1765). Especially relevant is the list of complaints (such as the complaint beginning "That the only representatives of the people of these colonies...").
• The Articles of Association (October 20, 1774). For comparison to the list of grievances, look at the passage from "the present unhappy situation of our affairs is occasioned by a ruinous system of colony administration" to "whenever a wicked ministry shall chuse so to direct them." Students should also look at the statement beginning "To obtain redress of these grievances."
• The Virginia Declaration of Rights (June 12, 1776), written by George Mason. Especially pertinent are the first three sections.

Guide to Independent Searches for Precedent Setting Documents The Avalon Project contains many relevant documents and is fully searchable. Students can search for terms such as "rights" or "taxes" or "standing armies" within the Colonial Charters, Grants, and Early Constitution collection listed in the pull-down menu on the search page. Students should be aware that search results will include documents created after 1776, which are irrelevant to the task at hand. The Avalon Project website has amassed a list of documents under the title The American Constitution: A Documentary Record , including forerunners to the United States Constitution. There you may find additional relevant documents. Of special interest are the sections "The Roots of the Constitution" and "Revolution and Independence."

Activity 6. Share and Declare

Once student groups have analyzed the historical documents that preceded the Declaration of Independence, ask them to share their findings with the rest of the class. In what ways were the earlier documents similar to the Declaration? You may wish to create a display of the information students have uncovered. For example, on a large bulletin board, center the text of the Declaration. Highlight relevant excerpts. Use a colored strand of yarn to lead from each Declaration excerpt to a posting of the name and date of a related document. Classes with the necessary technology, skill, and computer access can do this same exercise on the computer, creating hyperlinks to the precedents. Students should continue to work on their declarations, either during class or as a homework assignment. They can use what they learned through the study of relevant documents created before the Declaration as a guide for the information they wish to include in their documents. By this time, students should be working on the statement of beliefs and the complaints section of their declarations.

Activity 7. Eighty-Six It: Changes to Jefferson's Draft

Now students can look at some drafts of the Declaration. Every class should view actual images of these drafts with corrections written in Jefferson's handwriting. Some classes might benefit from a closer look at the kinds of changes that occurred. The committee and Continental Congress are said to have made a total of 86 changes to the document. American Memory has a collection of Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789, containing many historic documents, including images and transcripts of original copies of various drafts of the Declaration. Students may be especially interested to view an image of a fragment of the Declaration and a transcript of the earliest known draft of the Declaration . You can also access an image and transcript of a later draft of the Declaration via this page at the Founding Documents section of the National Archives website. Reading just a small portion of the later draft will demonstrate the significant changes that took place as the Congress worked on the Declaration. Did the final version improve on the draft? If so, how? Students should continue to work on their declarations. They should be nearing completion of a first draft, including a statement of prior attempts to redress grievances, and a declaration of independence. Take some time to discuss the writing process within the student groups. How did they proceed? Did they ever go back and make changes? What kinds of changes? Did more than one person have input?

Activity 8. Publish and Declare

Now, the student groups should complete and present their "declarations." If typed on a computer, these can be printed out in an appropriately ornate font. The paper can be stained using tea to give the appearance of age. Students should sign the document on which they worked. If students have access to the necessary technology, they can create hyperlinks from sections of their computerized declaration to specific precedents in the Declaration. Students should now reflect on their experience writing a declaration and the process that created it. What part of their own declaration would they say most resembles the 1776 Declaration of Independence? Which complaint? Which part of their beliefs? What changes did they make in the course of writing their documents? How did the group decide how to proceed? Student declarations should be posted and, if practical, sent to the intended audience (parents, principal). For a culminating activity, the documents can be read in class in ceremonial fashion. The documents' reflection of the structure of the Declaration will help the teacher assess the success of the activity.

• Have students conduct research into the historical events that led to the colonists' complaints and dissatisfaction with British rule. What were some of the specific complaints? After reviewing the complaints, the students look for specific events related to the grievances listed. They can use their own textbooks and other sources available at school. The historical events students choose could also be added to the bulletin board by connecting an excerpt of a particular complaint to a brief, dated summary of an event. The complaints relate to actual events, but the precise events were not discussed in the Declaration. Why do the students think the framers decided to do that? (Someone might notice that, in the fragment of the early draft discussed below, the complaint referred to a specific event.) Would the student declarations also be more effective without specific events tied to the complaints?
• This unit can serve as a model for studying any of our nation's important historical documents. A study of the Constitution could begin with a role-play in which students imagine themselves marooned on a desert island, with little hope of rescue. Working in groups, students should come up with the 10 most important concepts for ensuring harmonious living in the new community and write them down in a list. After the initial round of listing, ask some "what if," "what about" and "what would happen" questions to help cover their omissions. Then post the revised lists on the classroom bulletin board or, if you have a computer in your classroom, post them electronically. At this point, you could introduce students to the Constitution, relating the concepts the students have come up with on their own to articles in the Constitution and talking about why a particular tenet is as important now as it was then. You could then compare your "living classroom constitution(s)" with the U.S. Constitution (especially the Bill of Rights) and selections from the Magna Carta, the Mayflower Compact, etc, depending on the age and sophistication level of your students. The Avalon Project's The American Constitution - A Documentary Record contains many relevant documents for this type of study.
• Students can now look at the American Declaration as a precedent for documents that came after it. Fruitful comparison can be made with the French Declaration of the Rights of Man—1789 , available through The Avalon Project. This declaration is also known as the French Declaration of Independence.
• Students could attempt to conduct a Declaration Convention in which they use the small group declarations as the basis of a single document representing the entire class.
• Volunteers could stage a dramatic reading of the entire Declaration.
• Students may be interested in seeing an image of the original Declaration , now exhibited in the Rotunda of the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, this version has faded badly. The most frequently reproduced version of the Declaration is taken from the engraving made by printer William J. Stone in 1823 . This image also is available online and has not faded as much as the original Declaration.

Additional Resources

• Here is an annotated version of the final draft of the Declaration , with links to an earlier draft and other materials such as Jefferson's letters. Passages in parentheses in the draft surround items that were crossed out; it is believed that some of those changes were made by John Adams.
• The Continental Congress made important changes to the Declaration in two places. An analysis of these changes is accessible through the EDSITEment resource American Memory at the Library of Congress site.
• American Memory's special collection A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation contains an annotated version of the Declaration with notes from Jefferson as to which committee member made specific changes (with which he apparently did not wholeheartedly agree) on pp. 491-502 of volume five of the Journals of the Continental Congress , 1774-1789, the record for Friday, June 28, 1776.
• The Articles of Confederation of the United Colonies of New England (May 19, 1643). A precursor of the Constitution's requirement for a census is found here in Article 4, "that the Commissioners for each Jurisdiction from time to time, as there shall be occasion, bring a true account and number of all their males in every Plantation."
• Ordinances for Virginia July 24-August 3, 1621, including article IV with its discussion of a representative assembly.
• Articles of Confederation  (March 1, 1781)
• The Madison Debates , James Madison's notes taken during the Federal Convention of 1787. 
• Image of the original Declaration
• Engraving of the Declaration made by William J. Stone, 1823

Related on EDSITEment

Mission us: for crown or colony the game, frederick douglass's, “what to the slave is the fourth of july”.

America's Founding Documents

Declaration of Independence: A Transcription

Note: The following text is a transcription of the Stone Engraving of the parchment Declaration of Independence (the document on display in the Rotunda at the National Archives Museum .)  The spelling and punctuation reflects the original.

In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

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, Governments 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 to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. 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.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

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

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

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

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

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

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

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

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

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 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 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 to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. 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.

Button Gwinnett

George Walton

North Carolina

William Hooper

Joseph Hewes

South Carolina

Edward Rutledge

Thomas Heyward, Jr.

Thomas Lynch, Jr.

Arthur Middleton

Massachusetts

John Hancock

Samuel Chase

William Paca

Thomas Stone

Charles Carroll of Carrollton

George Wythe

Richard Henry Lee

Thomas Jefferson

Benjamin Harrison

Thomas Nelson, Jr.

Francis Lightfoot Lee

Carter Braxton

Pennsylvania

Robert Morris

Benjamin Rush

Benjamin Franklin

John Morton

George Clymer

James Smith

George Taylor

James Wilson

George Ross

Caesar Rodney

George Read

Thomas McKean

William Floyd

Philip Livingston

Francis Lewis

Lewis Morris

Richard Stockton

John Witherspoon

Francis Hopkinson

Abraham Clark

New Hampshire

Josiah Bartlett

William Whipple

Samuel Adams

Robert Treat Paine

Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island

Stephen Hopkins

William Ellery

Connecticut

Roger Sherman

Samuel Huntington

William Williams

Oliver Wolcott

Matthew Thornton

Back to Main Declaration Page

The Declaration of Independence

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Discussion Questions

In what ways is the Declaration of Independence a timeless document, and in what ways is it a product of a specific time and place? Is it primarily a historical document, or is it relevant to the modern era?

How does the Declaration of Independence define a tyrant? And how convincing is the argument the signers make that George III was a tyrant?

The Declaration of Independence does not establish any laws for the United States. But how do its ideas influence the Constitution or other documents that do establish laws?

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Text of the Declaration of Independence

Note: The source for this transcription is the first printing of the Declaration of Independence, the broadside produced by John Dunlap on the night of July 4, 1776. Nearly every printed or manuscript edition of the Declaration of Independence has slight differences in punctuation, capitalization, and even wording. To find out more about the diverse textual tradition of the Declaration, check out our Which Version is This, and Why Does it Matter? resource.

        WHEN in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.           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, Governments 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 to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. 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.           He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.           He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.            He has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.           He has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.           He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.           He has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and Convulsions within.            He has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.           He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.           He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.           He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.           He has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.           He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.           He has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:           For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us:           For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:           For cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:           For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:           For depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:           For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:           For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rule into these Colonies:           For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:           For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.           He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.           He has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.           He is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.           He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.           He has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.           In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.           Nor have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned them from Time to Time of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable Jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have appealed to their native Justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our Connections and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of Consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.           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 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 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 to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. 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.

Signed by Order and in Behalf of the Congress, JOHN HANCOCK, President.

Attest. CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary.

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Lesson Plan The Declaration of Independence: Created Equal?

This lesson focuses on a few key concepts of the Declaration of Independence, beginning with the phrase "All men are created equal." Students gain an appreciation of Thomas Jefferson's efforts to deal with the complex issues of equality and slavery in the Declaration of Independence.

Students will be able to:

• develop a working definition of what it means for everyone to be equal;
• interpret the phrase "All Men Are Created Equal" in the context of the Declaration of Independence;
• compare their definition of equality to the definition Jefferson was using in the Declaration of Independence; and
• develop a rationale for Jefferson's usage of the phrase based on his life and historical context.

Time Required

3-4 class periods

Lesson Preparation

• The Thomas Jefferson Papers, 1606-1827
• Chronology of Events
• Declaration of Independence
• Original rough draft of the Declaration of Independence
• Thomas Jefferson to Benjamin Banneker
• Thomas Jefferson to William Burwell
• Thomas Jefferson to David Barrow

Lesson Procedure

• Review the basic purpose of the Declaration of Independence. Today begins the examination of certain key concepts of the document.
• Begin with a brainstorming activity on the meaning of equality. Students brainstorm individually at first. After a few minutes, divide into groups of 4-5. Students share interpretations of the word within each group. Each student should add two additional interpretations of equality to his or her list for variety.
• Bring everyone back to discuss the various meanings developed both individually and within the group.
• After discussion, introduce the phrase "all men are created equal" from the Declaration of Independence. Return to groups to interpret what Jefferson meant by this phrase in the document.
• Discuss as a whole the interpretations of this phrase.
• Next consider, "Who was not represented by this statement?" Allow groups time to discuss.
• Compare definitions from the various groups as to their actual meaning and the interpreted meaning of this phrase. Some key questions to ask:
• What was Jefferson's intended purpose for the phrase?
• Were there ethical considerations?
• Could he justify such a statement for inclusion in the Declaration of Independence?
• Each student picks a card that has either "for" or "against" written on it. The card also includes a number that designates the student's group for the rest of the lesson. Depending on the size of the class you may have four to six groups in each period (half for Jefferson and half against Jefferson.)
• Direct students to the  Was It Compromise or Hypocrisy?  Web page. Students enter the side they are supporting - for or against Jefferson. Each link leads students to sources necessary to prepare their evidence.
• Students gather information from the web links and additional searching of Library of Congress online collections as needed, record their findings on their  Evidence Compilation Sheets . Students take this information to their respective groups. Each team is responsible for presenting their respective evidence sheets to the rest of the class. The presentation may be done using overheads, chalk or white board in the room, or butcher paper that can be hung on the wall of the classroom.
• After reviewing all of the evidence for both sides, discuss the pros and cons of each side of the argument. If desired, take a class vote on what was meant by the phrase, "All men are created equal."
• Evidence presented in arguments is thorough and accurate.
• Letter presents appropriate viewpoint of author.
• In addition, a discussion should be held on how we should interpret the phrase "all men are created equal" in the Declaration of Independence. What did it mean in 1776? What does it mean today?
• Break the class into two groups based on Jefferson's intentions regarding equality in the Declaration of Independence. One group believes Jefferson meant all men, while the other group believes Jefferson meant all white men. Find evidence in the Library's online collections to support each position.
• Rewrite the Declaration of Independence (or portions of it) to fit a contemporary society.
• Stage a mock trial with the students playing the roles of Jefferson and others. The Library of Congress primary sources serve as evidence to be presented in a trial. Include a judge, witnesses, jury, defense lawyers, and prosecution.
• One individual student could portray Thomas Jefferson and answer questions raised by the rest of class on the phrase "all men are created equal."

Lesson Evaluation

• Each student will be evaluated based upon the completeness and accuracy of data gathered and presented.
• Another part of the evaluation will include the drafting of a letter.

Mike Larson and Doug Hyde

For Jefferson

Was it compromise or hypocrisy, the people v. jefferson.

You have been appointed as a law clerk to begin the difficult task of defending Thomas Jefferson in his suit with the A.T.J.S. of A. (Anti-Thomas Jefferson Society of America).

Before you begin, review the charges made by the A.T.J.S. of A.

You will need to gather as much evidence as you can to show that the claims of the A.T.J.S. of A. are unfounded and malicious.

You will need to find examples in letters he wrote, his actions, and communications that will exonerate Thomas Jefferson of the charges leveled against him.

At stake is Jefferson's estate, reputation, and political future as a leader in the United States.

It is imperative when you find evidence to support Jefferson that you write it down as close to word-for-word as possible.

The following sources will provide some assistance in your efforts to gather favorable evidence. There will also be a few sources present that WILL NOT paint such a positive view of Jefferson. However, for you to defend him, you will also need to see arguments that the opposition will present in the case against Jefferson.

Here is a list of the sources. You will determine the usefulness of each.

Defense Research Links:

Gather evidence in SUPPORT of Thomas Jefferson. Be sure to cite your sources for each piece of evidence you find.

Against Jefferson

A.t.j.s. of a. anti-thomas jefferson society of america, we of the a.t.j.s. of a. do hereby declare that thomas jefferson will be indicted for crimes against humanity.

We do therefore make the following charges:

• Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal even though he owned more than 200 slaves at his home in Monticello.
• In his Notes on Virginia, Jefferson makes inflammatory and derogatory remarks directed against African Americans.
• He makes no mention of the rights of African Americans in the Declaration of Independence.
• He has not released all of his slaves in accordance with the prevailing sentiment that slavery was morally and ethically wrong in the period after the Declaration of Independence.
• He has denied African Americans the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness accorded in the Declaration of Independence.
• He mentions injuries done to the colonists by King George III, but we assert that Mr. Jefferson was only referring to white colonists in the colonies.

Therefore, we, the members of the A.T.J.S. of A. do hereby bring forth a civil lawsuit against the person and estate of Thomas Jefferson. We will find the best counsel and see to it that justice be done. Our organization is dedicated to the eradication of Thomas Jefferson as a Founding Father, President, and "Enlightenment" figure.

Our charge is to gather evidence AGAINST Thomas Jefferson. Some of the sources to be used include:

• The Papers of Thomas Jefferson
• George Washington to Thomas Jefferson, August 23, 1792
• Thomas Jefferson to William Short, January 3, 1793
• Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, September 4, 1823

Gather evidence AGAINST Thomas Jefferson. Be sure to cite your sources for each piece of evidence you find.

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Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence: A Comparison and Contrast

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(Thomas Paine)

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My Declaration of Independence

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Published: Jun 13, 2024

Words: 720 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

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Introduction, personal autonomy, intellectual freedom, emotional self-reliance.

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