...Declaration of Independence Alec Vargas AIU Online Abstract There are many artifacts hidden within sight every day. One artifact that many Americans take for granted is The Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence is an artifact because of what it resembles, and also what it allowed an entire group of people to do. This document helped solidify the future of many generations in and around the once newly formed United States of America. If an artifact is supposed to tell you about the core of a culture, then why do many people look over one of the most important artifacts in the United States history? The United States have a sole document called the Declaration of Independence calling for separation from British rule. But that is not just the only reason why the Declaration of Independence is so important. Why it is so important is how and whom the document brought together in 1776. The Declaration of Independence This document really shows how much unrest was between the thirteen colonies and Britain. This unrest comes from many attempts of oppression by the British government. This oppression reigned from, but is not limited to religion, financial taxation, military enforcement, and overbearing laws. The Declaration of Independence is a document of what the people of the thirteen colonies believed in, freedom. Freedom of what? Not just speech, but also against military rule and government rule that conflicts with the God given rights of a human...
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...the, Declaration of Independence? The signing of the Declaration of Independence was always questioned. The date that is used is the Fourth of July 1776. It had 56 different signatures on it. In the passed people did not freedom or equality. Before Americans were not Americans, they were British. Before Americans governed themselves, they were governed by a distant a British King. Before America was an independent state, it was a dependent colony. Before Americans claimed equal rights, they were subject to British rights. What brought about these transformations? It was all changed by one speech in 1776, The Declaration of Independence. It was important to the colonies, because the British were not controlling them anymore. They did not have to follow the British rule. The Declaration of Independence is the most powerful document ever written, because it helped the United States and foreign countries, led to independence, and men were created equal....
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...The Declaration of Independence is the most important document in our nation’s history. The founding fathers of our country wrote the declaration as a way of stating what was wrong with England, and why they felt like they could form a better country. This document illustrates many ideals that we still try to uphold today, such as the equality of all people, the right to alter or abolish our government, and the unalienable rights that all people have. However, the most significant ideal in the declaration is that authority comes from the consent of the governed. While the other ideals are undoubtedly important, it is possible that the declaration would not have been written at all if the American colonies had representation in England’s parliament....
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...In America, there is a very large gap between the fundamental values embedded in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution and the discriminatory practices that have occurred in the past and are currently being presented today. If these documents are supposed to preach egalitarianism, liberty, and “all men are created equal”, how is it possible we have allowed the existence of things in America like slavery, racial discrimination, and gender discrimination? These documents for centuries have sculpted the ways in which we have progressed socially, however, what they stand for represents a progression that has lead our country down the wrong path. The fundamental value and most expressed statement in the Declaration of Independence is, “all men are created equal; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. This document preaches for equality and is the backbone for our set of American values, but yet discrimination has existed throughout our entire history and still continues to this day. These values are taught and learned by the American people through such documents as the Declaration of Independence, however these documents are embodying an idea that us as people do not seem to possess. Not only is this document extremely hypocritical, especially when it is looked at and compared to discriminatory practices in our country, such as: slavery, racial discrimination, and gender discrimination, but it is written by people who had practiced discrimination...
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...Have you ever thought about what life would be like without the decleration of independance and its ideals? On July 4th 1776 the foundation of our country was created. The declaration of independence was a letter to britain explaining why the colonies should break away. Of the four main ideals in the declaration of independence which ones are the most important? The ideals that will be addressed in this DBQ are the ideals of equality, natural rights, and the consent of the governed. Tis DBQ will focus on determining why these ideals are as important as they are. The first ideal being touched on is the ideal of natural rights. The declaration of independence states that “They (the american people) are endowed by their creator with certain...
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...The Declaration of Independence is the founding document of American history. It is one of the most important documents in american history. In 1776 is when the Declaration of Independence took place. Another important part in history is the Martin Luther king, jr.’ “ I have a dream.” speech. That speech is one of the reasons why blacks and whites can live together in harmony today. This speech happened on August 28, 1963. On august 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, jr gave one of the most important speeches in history. The “ I Have a Dream,” was one of the reasons that there is no slavery today. MLK wanted blacks and whites to live together. The I Have a dream speech is related to the Declaration of Independence because both events wanted america...
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...understand them more in depth. The Declaration gave us our independence from the British, and this is why we have Independence Day on July 4th. The Constitution was written to give the government a little more strong hold on laws and regulations. The letter to the Danbury Baptist was written to inform the people that there would be a separation between “church and state” keeping the government out of religion. These three articles seem as though they have nothing in common…. The Declaration of Independence was written first, on July 4, 1776. The U.S. Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787. In both of these documents citizens were obligated to support the government as long at it was not restraining them from their freedom, and correct or remove it when it was. The Declaration was written to notify the monarchy that the United States was no longer a British colony. The Declaration of Independence listed reasons why the United States decided to cut ties to the British and was now its own country with its own government. The Constitution outlines the most important government laws and citizen rights. Some of the laws of the Constitution seem to be based off of the listed reasons in the Declaration of Independence. The Constitution was approved through a vote from the states, and the United States Federal Government was created. This is the same Government that exist today. If it wasn’t for the Declaration of Independence cutting ties with the British we might...
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...Aleigh Hackmann English 3A 1.2.13 Practice June 1, 2016 The Declaration of Independence was ratified on July 4, 1776; it effectively formed the United States of America. 56 delegates signed The Declaration of Independence to the Continental Congress and outlined the reasons for becoming independent from Great Britain. This document is not formally divided, but it is divided into five unofficial sections, from the introduction to the conclusion. The Declaration of Independence begins with what is referred to as the Introduction. Although it’s just one, exceptionally long, sentence with a simple meaning, there are loads of information we can pull from it. The introduction simply states why the document is being written. The Founders thought they should tell their government why they felt the need to leave. Looking into the details, we see very elegant writing. From this, you can see that the Founders were well educated. The Founders also included in their introduction their strong belief in religious freedom. This document is written out of respect for the government that persecuted the writers. The end states “decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” The next part of The Declaration of Independence is called the Preamble. The Preamble includes the reasons behind the Declaration, many of them being from John Locke, a famous philosopher. These ideas are not only directed towards the United States...
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...Declaration of Independence Essay The Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson describes the document's necessity in explaining why the colonies have chosen to separate themselves from the King of Britain, George III. In this document, it declares that all men are created equal and the people's unalienable rights should never be taken or violated by a government. It also expresses the violations King George III has violated such as imposing taxes on the colonists and prevention of openly trading. Thomas Jefferson is able to effectively construct the Declaration of Independence because his use of repetition and parallelism. Thomas Jefferson uses repetition such as 'he has' as a powerful tool in order to list the grievances...
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...The Declaration of Independence is the document that was drafted as a proclamation for the 13 original colonies of New England to emancipate themselves from the British Empire. It was written in 1776 and ratified within the same few months. In total, there were multiple authors, many signees, and an even greater amount of contributors. The authors of the Declaration of Independence include five main Revolutionary leaders. The main leader who originally drafted the Declaration was Thomas Jefferson, and the four other main authors include John Adams, Robert R. Livingston, Roger Sherman and Benjamin Franklin. Jefferson was one of the original Founding Fathers of the U.S. as well as the third U.S. President. He was a proponent of the Continental Congress under the state of Virginia as well as the first U.S. Secretary of State. Adams, the second President of the U.S., was an influential public leader in Boston, Massachusetts as well as the Continental Congress. He played a major part in pushing independence for the colonies. Livingston was a Chancellor, which is the highest judicial officer in the state, as well as a Recorder from New York. Several years after the Declaration was written, he took office as the U.S. Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Sherman was the first mayor of New Haven, a town in Connecticut. Once the Declaration was written, he became a representative and senator in the new republic. Franklin was one of the original authors who wore the most hats. ...
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...Persuasive Strategies in The Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence is, in a sense, an argument for freedom and severance from the British crown. The famous document features some of the elements of argument, such as the claim of unjustness by the colonist’s ruler and the evidence to back it up. The document lays the groundwork for both the American colonies’ independence from England and the eventual war that follows. Of course, for a document of this importance, to be persuasive, it must be written in a carful and particular way. Jefferson’s use of certain mechanical devices and language and diction expresses to his audience the reasons and justification for independence of the American colonies. One of the most obvious and effective strategies that Jefferson uses is midway through the document. He spends a huge chunk of the Declaration listing all of the objections the colonists have to King George III’s regulations and how he has abused his power. This technique brings the audience into the same rationale as the author. Jefferson talks about how the king has “abdicated Government [in the colonies], by declaring [the colonies] out of his Protection and waging War against [them]”, but the colonists’ “repeated petitions” to the king’s rule “have been answered only by repeated injury” (Jefferson 267). Jefferson is making an emotional appeal to his audience and is trying to convince them that any revolution from the colonists is justified...
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...In 1776 one of the most famous documents in American History was signed: The Declaration of Independence. One of the Massachusetts representatives to sign, along side his second cousin, was Samuel Adams. Why is he so important? Adams’ significance to the signing of the declaration can date back to his college days when he wrote a controversial thesis through the Stamp Act and the Tea Act that took place on the road to America’s Independence. Adams started his college career at fourteen when he attended Harvard College in 1736. After he obtained his bachelor's degree, he went on to get his Masters degree in 1743. That year he wrote a controversial thesis stating "Whether it be lawful to resist the supreme magistrate, if the commonwealth cannot be otherwise preserved?" (1). Restated, Adams is questioning the...
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...this is the best way to create a government? Why or why not? • What beliefs about rights were important to the American colonists? • What rights do you think people should have? • What is republican government? • Why did Montesquieu believe that the powers of republican government should be separated among different branches or groups in the government? • What was the purpose of balancing the powers among different groups in the government? • Why should each group...
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...Adrian Lurie 12/13/11 Per. 1 Self-Evidence In 1776, the Deceleration of Independence was signed by our founding fathers. This document had been previously written to break free from the grip of Britain and become an autonomous nation. It obtained the most fundamental ideas of our country, and helped shape what it is today. The most important group of ideals in this Declaration was the self-evident truths, which stated essential laws about man and its organization. These self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence were derived from the ideals of natural rights, an undefined Creator, and establishing government. Throughout the history of the world, natural rights have been widely believed in, and were a large factor in the creation of our country. One source that shares the ideas of the Declaration is Cicero’s De Legibus, in which Cicero wrights that man, “has been given certain distinguished status…” This directly relates to the self-evident truths, meaning that Man has been given special rights and is therefore above all the other animals. Another example of natural rights in history is the signing of the Magna Carta. The king acknowledged that he had been repressing people’s natural rights, so they created the Magna Carta to protect them. This is yet another example from which the Declaration of Independence claimed ideas. Finally, the famous philosopher John Locke, “called the new-born mind a tabula rasa, a blank slate.” He believed that all men were created...
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...colonist outcry for independence. After reading the “Declaration of Independence”, the colonist present some of their reasoning’s that I feel are hypocritical of them and some of their reasons I can understand. The colonist list out their reasoning’s for the rebellion against King George III but do they not realize the complaints that they are writing about are the same ones that slaves are going thru? The colonists do mention some righteous points about the king’s dictatorship instead of leadership towards the colonist that I relate to with social...
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