Preview

Declaration of Independence

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
856 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Declaration of Independence
Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence was written to show a new theory of government, reasons why they were separating from England, and a formal declaration of war. It gave the 13 colonies freedom from England's laws to be independent. The man responsible for writing the Declaration was Thomas Jefferson. He wrote the Declaration between June 11, 1776 and June 28, 1776. But what was the purpose of the Declaration being written? The founders wrote the Declaration of Independence for ideological reasons, such as laws that were made without representation, to define the purpose of government, and to obtain aid from other countries. Desire for rightful laws can be taken as the first and the most important reasons for the Declaration of Independence. The British colonists living in America during that time period were grown used to being their own boss. At the time, King George the 3rd was head of the British parliament and the people became tired of the consistent laws the King kept making and passing. The people believed that too many laws were taking away too many of their freedoms. Some examples of this were the Sugar Act, Tea Act, and the Stamp Act; the King put very high tax on both of these items and other things that the colonist would use occasionally such as paper. But the purpose of taxing these everyday items was that Great Britain was desperate for money to use in the war and for the debts the war had caused. But the colonists felt that they should not pay for these taxes because they were passed in England by Parliament, not by their own colonial governments. So to go against King George’s taxation, they colonist protested saying that the taxes had violated their rights as British citizens. Along with the protest, the colonists began to resist by boycotting or not buying the taxed items. This led to scenarios such as the Boston Tea Party that occurred due to the Tea Act; this was where the colonist dressed up as Indians,

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    People may abolish their government in the event that, their rights are violated by the government. When the government how to much power and the people no longer feel safe, then we may take action and alter or abolish the government.…

    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Comparison Paper

    • 1325 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Declaration of Independence was the first of these significant documents to be penned. Drafted in June of 1776, Thomas Jefferson, the author, took great pains to make clear the reasons for the colonies choice of separating from the rule of England and the monarchy. The list of oppressions and grievances against British rule were varied, but concise and valid. Declaring the independence of the colonies from their mother land of England was the main purpose behind the written, signed, and delivered declaration. However, declaring independence from England was not the only result of the document, a secondary result was an igniting of the desire of the peoples of the colonies to be free in every way and govern themselves. This declaration emboldened the colonists, and gave them a tangible reason to fight (Charters of Freedom, n.d.).…

    • 1325 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Declaration of Independence Primarily was drafted by the founding fathers as a formal declaration to the Colonies as well as the British Monarchy that they were absolving, and becoming Free & Independent States. The Declaration of Independence also outlines the many injustices that the King of Great Britain had been doing such ad cutting off trade to other parts of the world, obstructing the administration of justice, forcing the colonies to quarter the King’s Armies, and imposing taxes on the Colonies without consent. The Declaration of Independence then goes on to state that the Colonies have the full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract Alliances, establish commerce, ad do all that an independent state would do.…

    • 1779 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When specific events occur that prevents public high school students from engaging in their leisure activities in which is given by nature, It is necessary that these high school students to declare independence from receiving superfluous work given by teachers to be taken outside of the classroom to be completed in the after hours of school and turned in next class, known as homework.…

    • 423 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The main purpose of the Declaration of Independence was to declare that the American colonies were separating from England (thus declaring independence). The document also stated what the principles were as the foundation for seeking independence.…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    aspiration for their own independent country in the strongest way possible. As a united country, the…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Declaration of Independence was a Document to the King of England declaring their intentions to sever all political ties with England. It was addressed to the supreme Judge of the World Court; basically it was a petition to the world to be recognized as a legitimate government. The Colonist had final had enough of the English King and his oppression, they got together and formed a Continental Congress to come up with a plan. They drafted the Declaration of Independence as the last desperate act of an oppressed people, addressed to the world the colonist requested that the world recognize their sovereign right to govern themselves.…

    • 2355 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the two decades prior to the Revolution, the Americans built up a series of grievances against the British government. Those complaints were clearly articulated in the Declaration of Independence. The colonists did this to prove to every other country in the worlds that their reason for war was justified. It is also important to keep in mind that when Thomas Jefferson wrote this, he did not mean for it to be a historical text, he wrote it as a persuasive essay to gain support from other European countries. So the fact that some of the grievances listed may be fabricated or altercated, is only natural if you want to gain allies, and make your parent country look bad. The colonists didn 't want to quietly separate form the British; they wanted…

    • 1139 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Declaration of Sentiments Elizabeth Cady Stanton uses induction and deduction in order to make her argument effective. Both of these argumentative techniques are used to support her argument that women should be granted all the rights and privileges men have. Stanton satirizes the Declaration of Independence highlighting the holes in Jefferson’s document. Through the use of induction and deduction Stanton makes a valid point on how men create an absolute tyranny over women.…

    • 599 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Often a single document defines and commemorates an event or a moment in time that is of importance. The Declaration of Independence is the principal document that defines and commemorates the birth of the United States and the independence of our nation. The Declaration of Independence defines the right of the people to defy the established order, to change their government, and to throw off an oppressor. [1] The Declaration of Independence expresses America's foundation and independence and the basic freedoms that this nation strives to embody, such as "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness". The important thing about the Declaration of Independence is not the document itself. It is the feeling and beliefs of a group of people that were speaking for a whole nation. The Declaration of Independence was written in 1776, but its message is timeless and still relevant today. The purpose of the Declaration of Independence was to declare and explain why the thirteen colonies were breaking away from Great Britain's control. The Declaration of Independence had a massive significance in political, social and financial issue.…

    • 1186 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The colonists had refused to be ruled by what they had described as a tyrant, which is why they ceased fighting and declared themselves independent. Before the Declaration, the colonists had been withstanding a lot of oppression from their government 3,000 miles away, the British Parliament. Starting with the Proclamation Line of 1763, issued by parliament to prevent the colonies from having war with the surrounding Native Americans, this was one of the first causes that had caused the seed of distrust in the colonists to sprout. Because this Proclamation was issued soon after the French and Indian War, the British were up to their ears in war debt. As a result, the British had passed several acts raising colonial taxes. One of the first of these was the Sugar Act, which had set a tax on sugar purchased in the colonies specifically. The colonies had already been experiencing a multitude of financial difficulties, so a tax act to feed that struggle was indeed a burden. This was soon followed by the Stamp Act, which had placed a tax on every piece of printed paper they had used. The British were very relentless on reasserting their authority over the colonies, however, the colonists are even more so. Boycotting the goods the British taxed, the colonists were successful in…

    • 1086 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Declaration of Independence was very much a way for the colonists to air some of their particular grievances with British rule. The different complaints that are represented in the Declaration are also very valid in terms of what they were dealing with, and these are the key reason that this document was written in the first place.…

    • 58 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The colonists saw a conspiracy to destroy their liberty in British policies. So, when the colonists were forming the Declaration of Independence, the main goal was to show the…

    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fundamentally the Declaration of Independence is at the same time a statement of intent to renounce British rule over the colonies and an argument justifying that intent. The justification for why the colonies had chosen to break with England lies in the philosophical position that human beings -- commoner and king alike -- are first bound by "the laws of nature" and that these natural laws should preempt the traditional notions of sovereign rule by divine right. This natural law theory is predicated on various far-reaching assumptions or "self-evident truths."…

    • 1060 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The colonists had many reasons to declare independence against Britain. The colonists believed the British were unfair to the colonists, one way was by taxation without representation. The colonists had no representatives in Parliament, so when Parliament passed taxes without the consent of the colonists, they believed it was very unfair, and they shouldn’t have to pay the taxes. Also, the British put many taxes on goods for the colonists. Some examples of these taxes were the sugar act, a tax on sugar, the stamp act, the law to buy a stamp for every single paper they had, and the tea act, which not only taxed the colonists for tea, but it also allowed the British to have control of all tea trade. The colonists did not like these taxes because…

    • 238 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays