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At the Beginning of American

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At the Beginning of American
At the Beginning of American "No taxation without representation!"; "These are the times that try men's souls."; "Give me liberty or give me death!" All are famous phrases that sparked the American Revolution. The Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the creation of the Articles of Confederation represent the American colonies' first attempt to become a nation. This development was tentative at best, but ultimately led to success. 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." The most important assumptions made by the Declaration of Independence are that all men are created equally; that all men have the absolute right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"; that government is a social contract between the governing body and the people who are governed; that society consents to the formation of government in exchange for governmental protection of the rights of individuals within that society; and finally that if society withdraws its consent, the government can be replaced. While all of the colonial complaints and charges may well have been true, the British government, of course, did not agree with the premises cited in the Declaration. The British government did not recognize that citizens have absolute rights. As such, it did not require consent to govern and could, in fact, govern in whatever manner it saw fit. The colonists, however, having concluded that their absolute rights were self-evident and therefore not
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