Declaration of independence analysis?
http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica... ^ declaration of independence this is a question from my english homework that i don't get ---- The Declaration of Independence was written during a period now referred to as the Age of Reason. In what ways has Jefferson tried to make his document appear reasonable?
What did the Declaration of Independence do?
It declared to Great Britain in 1776 that the 13 colonies were free and independent states under the collective name, United States of America. It united the colonies/states under the government of the Second Continental Congress. Unfortunately, that government had to beg for money from the states to finance the war that began in 1775. In 1777 Congress passed the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. However, that government was not ratified until 1781 forcing Congress to continue to work under the DOI. Declaring independence is one thing, while winning it is quite another thing. It took from 1775 to 1783 to gain freedom from Great Britain.
What would happen if the US Declaration of Independence were to be destroyed? Would the country revert to being a British colony, or would it continue as if nothing happened?
Assuming the Archivist of the United States wasn't killed in whatever disaster took place that resulted in the obliteration of the U.S.' founding document, he would be the subject of intense, unrelenting fire from every corner of America for not having properly ensured the Declaration's physical security. He would have a string of very bad days, probably culminating in his termination (and the termination of everybody with even a sliver of responsibility for the Declaration's well being) if he did not voluntarily resign and flee the country. After that, the government would procure one of the other 26 known, existing contemporary copies of the Declaration to put on display - assuming one wasn't donated out of sympathy (maybe, in a bit of irony, from one of the British institutions holding two such copies) - and things would go back to normal.Even if every copy of the Declaration were destroyed, along with every copy of the Treaty of Paris (1783) which formalised the U.S.' independence, and every copy of the Constitution, there would be absolutely zero effect on the U.S.' status as a sovereign nation. It takes more than the planting of a flag and a signing of parchment (not mere paper, OP) to create or destroy a country.
What is the Declaration of Independence?
The Declaration was about declaring independence from Britain and establishing a set of "self-evident" principles about human rights to guide the new country in the process of constitution making. You have might have heard the lines: "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..." With these opening lines, the document sets the end goal for all governments: the protection of these inherent rights. I highly recommend that you read this opening, which can be found here.The document the continues by listing the grievances against Britain (though they purposefully attribute them all to the King), which contain more than just issues about taxes. While taxes were the igniting issue in some high profile conflicts with Britain, the means of addressing this conflict by Parliament (revoking charters, abolishing legislative assemblies, quartering troops, etc.) pushed the colonists over the edge. This is what they refer to when they say: "the history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations.." In this list of complaints, you can understand the reasoning behind many protections that these Founders would eventually write into the governments they create, in most cases to prevent the grievances listed in this document from occurring again. And finally, the document closes by declaring "That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States...", thus declaring independence.I have tried to briefly outline what the document was about. I have also tried to present the reason why the document was written. I highly urge that you read it, it is not very long but it provides a great basis for interpreting American government.
Common sense and Declaration of Independence?
Common Sense was a pamphlet published anonymously by Thomas Paine. The Declaration of Independence was an official document detailing a policy of the new American government. At the beginning of the American Revolution, most Americans didn't actually want to be independent from Britain. They only wanted equality with other British subjects. They wanted representation in Parliament, they wanted to be able to petition the King, to write him letters asking for things and complaining about things they didn't like. They wanted fair, open trials in court, based on principles of law, as was common in England. The pamphlet Common Sense was to convince Americans that independence would be better than simply being equal to British subjects. It was extremely popular, selling about as many copies as there were households in the colonies. When the Declaration of Independence was written, the Revolution was already in full swing. The leaders of the movement decided to declare independence and assigned Thomas Jefferson the job of writing the document. Common Sense was an inflammatory document, an attempt to change peoples' minds, to persuade them to want independence. And a call to action. The Declaration of Independence was more calm and rational, beginning with an outline of the British/American concept of the purpose of government, then explaining the reasons why the American colonies had decided to declare themselves independent, finishing with a long list of perceived abuses of King George III.
Opposition to Declaration of Independence.?
John Dickinson was probably the most prominent (and surprising) delegate who refused to sign. See also Charles Humphreys, Thomas Willing, and John Alsop. Humphreys and Willing were, like Dickinson, from Pennsylvania, but were removed from the Congress because of their opposition. Alsop resigned voluntarily; the third source is some background on Alsop and what happened after he left the Congress.
Is the declaration of independence outdated?
The list of specific grievances may well be of historical value only - and thus they may be outdated, although perhaps not irrelevant. But in the earlier part, there is an insistence that government grows from the populous, from the will of the people. And that government -any government- has no legitimacy in itself, but is only legitimate to the degree that it serves the interests of the people; that government does not bestow rights, but that rights by definition are innate, coming from a source beyond the reach of government - "Nature and of Nature's God..." is the formulation the Declaration uses- place the accent on whichever end of that phrase which suits your theology. Government does not give rights, the citizenry has certain rights, "among these are the right to ..."The Declaration goes on to say that if the government should fail - or become destructive of those ends, it is the Right of the people "to alter or abolish it" and institute new government which will do better. It goes even further, declaring that rebellion is not only their right, but their duty: "it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security..." I get it that claiming revolution a duty is a rather elegant way to say only that "he MADE me do it! I didn't have any choice!" like any good 7 year old in a playground fight. But it did enshrine in the strongest possible language that the power to govern rests in those governed.Do we live that out? No. Not even the "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal..." Never have, and probably never will. Those who wrote it, and signed it could not live up to it. But we have it held before us as a principle - something other than "God made the king, and we have to do what the king says."Whether we can reach it or not, indeed, even it we need to think about it, and adjust here and there, I think the ideas are still important, still relevant. The raw challenge in the document is still a challenge.
What Does This Part Of The Declaration Of Independence Mean?
if anyone answers this for you they will be doing you a great disservice. This is an amazing part of our country and it has a large affect on how we live our lives today. All you have to do is read it and write down what you think it means. If you are interested in a particular piece you do not understand then ask but the whole thing you should understand most of it if not all.
Why was the Declaration of Independence necessary?
It’s kind of funny because the Declaration of Independence was written when the British monarchy was constitutional, so if it was written in the 1100′s when the English monarchy was absolute instead then it may be relevant. However the purpose of the document was to declare independence from the British government, to do that however they need to have a reason to do so by listing King George’s action rather then blaming the Parliament thar was the most responsible for any action on the colonies.However Thomas Jefferson needed someone to pin blame on, while announcing a new country to give the solders a real reason to fight. But yes, it was indeed necessary because of how things are politically unstable on both sides.
How is the declaration on independence persuasive?
The Declaration of Independence was a very famous document that was written in 1776. In this document the colonies tried to gain freedom from the mother country of England. The introduction explains to the rest of the world the reasons why the colonies wanted to revolt against the rule of England. The body of the document goes over the list of grievances and the reasons for their revolt against England. The conclusion simply consists of the signers and the pledges of The Declaration of Independence. Within this document is a wide variety of persuasive writing including repetition of key points, parallel structure, and biblical allusions. First off is repetition of key points, this is a great form of writing to get a point out by the use of repetition. Jefferson’s first example of repetition is, “He has refused…He has Forbidden…He has refused…He has” (Jefferson 138). In this example he represents the colonies, and the repetition is explaining the struggle that the colony is going through. The repetition used in this gets out the point of the ongoing struggle of each individual thing that happens.