The Declaration of Independence is writing to send to King George telling him that the United States of America were separating from his rule. The men who sent it to him also sent a list of grievances along with it. Grievance number sixteen said, “For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.” This grievance means that King George wouldn’t let them trade with anyone else in the world except with Britain. King George also made the citizens pay outrageous taxes with their okay. This makes me upset about how messed up the system was with only one person on top deciding everything without anyone helping him. This grievance I believe would have been thought of by using the social contract. Grievance number 22 had said, “He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts,burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.” This means that King George had ordered his military to take over the coasts and surrounding waters, so the people can’t trade, he had more military destroy the town"s people lived in if they didn’t agree with him, all these …show more content…
I believe this is related to the natural rights because it deals with people and their God given rights, life, liberty, and property. Lastly, grievance number 11 talks about how armies were around all the time, even in times of peace, and they could always just come into your home without a warrant or even sleep in your bed or eat your food. The grievance says, “He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our legislatures.” I get angry when I hear about people breaking into homes, but just to think that someone who is supposed to be for protection, they are just using you as a dirty floor mat and walking all over you and you have absolutely no say in the matter. This affects both social contract and natural
In 1776 the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence stating the separation of the American colonies from Britain. The Declaration states traditional American values that were meant to define America forever. However, in the 1800’s some of these traditional principles, to an extent, were being reformed with new values and ideologies, such as Abolitionism, Feminism, Public Education, Prison Rehabilitation, Utopianism, and Nativism. Overall, the reforms of the Antebellum Period were consistent with original American principles of democracy, equality, and reform. Public Education, Prison Reform, and Universal Suffrage all were consistent with the traditional principle of democracy.
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” (Doc7). This excerpt from “The Declaration of Independence” describes King George III as an unfit ruler of the people and tells of the colonists’ petitions that have been read and thrown back at them with repeated hatefulness. It also tells of the King’s history of repeating injury and usurpations while having the ability to establish oppressive rule over all of the states. Another view of this situation includes the view of the British. In their eyes the colonists are being immature and are complaining more than needed towards the King George III’s decisions and ways of ruling.
The United States of America's Declaration of Independence is a document that was written by Thomas Jefferson. This document describes to England, that the American colonies no longer wish to maintain themselves under British laws and rules. They wish to be a nation on their own. The colonists were tired and fed up of living under British rule. The taxes were becoming unbearable and seen as unfair for them to pay.
When you are born you are given natural rights. John Locke once said that we have the right to life, liberty, and property. Well, King George III and the british parliament did everything in their power to take these freedoms from the colonist. The colonist put up with this at first, but as they starting listening to patriot authors and using their own reason, they realized they were being cheated of their natural rights and freedoms. Two of these patriot authors, being Thomas Jefferson and John Dickinson, wrote in Continental Congress; “In our own native land, in defence of the freedom that is our birthright, and which we ever enjoyed till the late violation of it- for the protection of our property, acquired solely by the honest industry of our forefathers and ourselves, against violence actually offered, we have taken up arms” (Document 2).
Over the course of American history, society has dealt with many flaws, and dilemmas. In Source B, it illustrates that Abigail Adams, John’s wife, wanted the Continental Congress to remember the ladies when they write The Declaration of Independence. In Source C, it rationalizes how slaves didn’t have equal rights as white men, and the petition is trying to give their natural rights back. Furthermore, in Source D, a miniseries that depicted John Adams life, given particular the Revolutionary War. This source allows the viewer to visualize the conflicts that the Continental Congress had, with the colonists, and the British.
The Declaration of Colonial Rights and Grievances was written to show why the Americans had begun to oppose of their King. One of their grievances was that they were not being entitled to life, liberty, and property when they had done nothing to ceded to any sovereign power at all. Their ancestors, who came from Britain, had all the rights, liberties, and immunities that they were given when they were born. They are wondering why they are given less and less rights when they were also people of Britain, all that was different was that they didn't live on the mother country. The document also stated “That by such emigration they by no means forfeited, surrendered, or lost any of those rights, but that they were and their descendants now are, entitled to the exercise and enjoyment of all such of them, as their local and the other circumstances enable them to exercise and enjoy.”
Many of the reasons the American colonies believed they were justified in their rebellion from England lay in trade and taxes. When George III inherited the throne at the end of the Seven Years’ War England’s debt had risen to 145 million pounds and his chief minister believed that the American colonies needed to help shoulder the debt. (Nash, et al., 2007. , p. 134) In attempting to collect these taxes from the colonies to relieve the mounting debt Parliament passed a range of acts, which led to discontent among the colonists as many of them restricted trade, their political maneuverability and left many believing they infringed upon their “right to be taxed only by their own consent.”
“All men are created equal” was a goal the Founding Fathers tried to achieve in forming the country. July 4, 1776, 56 delegated passed the Declaration of Independence to announce and explain separation from Great Britain. James Madison wrote the Constitution based off the ideas of the Enlightenment period, which had core ideas of personal liberty. The U.S. Constitution established America’s national government and fundamental laws and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. The Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, by delegates in Philadelphia and presided over by George Washington.
The creation of the Declaration of Independence, the moment that made the 13 colonies ' independence from Britain official, was one of the most significant points in U.S. history. But while their declaration was set in stone, the motive behind the colonists ' decision is something that historians have split opinions on. While the 13 colonies acted on their own during their early years, a sense of unity was created by the First Continental Congress, where the delegates from the colonies decided to make the British imposement upon colonial rights known to everyone. The main purpose of the Declaration was to announce the colonies’ separation, as well as claiming that they had the right to do so. They justified this act in the document by listing a number of grievances that the people had against the King, including unfair taxation, various laws that limited the colonists’ freedom, and the lack of representation that the colonies had in the British Parliament.
The Declaration of Independence was first drafted in June of 1776. It took only one month for the document to be refined and was approved by congress on July 4th of 1776. Although it took an additional month for the document to be signed, it didn’t take as long for contentions to arise. This was primarily due to the fact that the Declaration of Independence didn’t address slavery. Why though, was this the case?
The main teaching of the Declaration centers on defining the equality and natural rights of man. It is against the rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness that the Declaration weighed the actions of the British, and reached the conclusion that declaring independence was justified. The right to life essentially means that a free, independent man has the right to protect his own life. The Founding Fathers accused George III of Britain of violating this right in several clauses, at one point stating he “destroyed the lives of our people.” The right to liberty means that each man is at liberty to follow their own will in all things that the natural law has not prohibited.
The Ideals of the Declaration: Which is Most Important? There are four ideals in the Declaration of Independence. The American Government became independent in July 1776. Five men wrote the Declaration of Independence, the main one being Thomas Jefferson.
Because of the great amount of power Britain possessed, the colonists were under oppression, ultimately taking action to defend themselves. Namely, according to document 5, the author states, “what is to defend us against so enormous, so unlimited power?”. As the taxes began to mound on top of one over the other, the colonists began to feel overwhelmed. In response, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and three others, created the Declaration of Independence as a call to war, to offset British rule. Like the Stamp Act, the colonists answered with violence, and the violence only increased as the British made sure to oppress the
My Declaration of Independence When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary to completely abolish my doubt. I will not let the pressure consumed by doubt suppress me from living my life. Doubt has already altered my life so much but I will not give in anymore. I hold these truths to be self-evident that as a person my life should not be delayed because the doubt adapted by me and the people around me.
During the writing of “The Declaration of Independence”, Thomas Jefferson go to great lengths to describe why the colonies were choosing to separate themselves from Great Britain. This is done not only so readers will have a detailed description of what the American people were facing while being ruled by the King. The vivid depiction of all the cruelty he has shown towards the people. Furthermore, the lengthy, highly descriptive examination of all the wrongs and showing that the colonists made many appeals to the King but also the people of Britain that the reader now feels as if it is wrong for the Colonies to be under Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson begins by detailing the ethical standings of all people that live within the colonies.