The declaration of independence was written over 200 years ago in 1776 and it isthe reason why Americans shoot fireworks in the sky on the 4th of July. Its thought of as a “break up letter” to the king of England and that’s exactly what it was. Thomas Jefferson stated every right that the king was taking away and declared independence from England. Every human being has unalienable god given rights, the king cannot grant our rights and he did not get his power from God. Signed by the heads of every colony in the constitutional congress, this was sent over to England and was the first step of revolution.
The purpose of a government is to assure the the protection of its peoples natural rights and keep them safe. The British government had not done that for the colonies and King George III is the one to blame. Almost half of the grievances in the declaration are blamed on him. He quartered troops in peoples homes without their consent. He did not let allow the colonists any form of representation. The big one that everyone learns in History class, no taxation without representation. The French and Indian war left England broke and with debt that they paid off by taxing the hell out of the colonists. The intolerable acts halted the building of towns and raised the tax on sugar to where only the wealthy could afford it. After a while it gets to the point where they wont tolerate it anymore and revolt, hence “intolerable ” acts. They went as far as to write him a letter of why they don’t like the way he does things and him in general. King George may have been hated by some of the Patriot colonists as much as the Jews did Hitler.
Its unlikely for a government overthrow this to happen again thanks to our trusty constitution. We have the power to amend unconstitutional laws and add new ones that are for the better general welfare of the people. We have a representative democracy in which every state has representation, every state has a say in the decisions made by federal government. Its no longer about whats beneficial for the King but about the general welfare and the balance of power between citizens and three government branches in these United States.
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html
Mr Hardy’s US History Class
GeminiSyndrome • Oct 16, 2014 at 11:26 am
I think it was very impressive how Thomas Jefferson wrote the declaration of Independence and the american colonies fought for freedom. I cant imagine what it would be like if the colonies didnt act on their desire for freedom, and how that would’ve changed society today. maybe we would still be under a monarchy
workingmemory • Oct 3, 2014 at 1:00 pm
this paper is written very well and i wonder what was King George III reaction when he first saw read it. like did he laugh think it was so stupid or was he immediately angry at the colonies that they were complaning. Maybe he even kinda understood why they were angry but just didnt want to back down and let them control him.
R-hernandez • Sep 29, 2014 at 2:38 am
Sometimes I wonder how would this country be if Thomas Jefferson wouldn’t write the declaration of independent to the king of England George III? would this country be the same as now or if not, how would it be different?
SEb_dELGADO • Sep 26, 2014 at 1:13 pm
Very well written article about the Declaration of Independence it definitely made me remember specific topics I have learned in class which in my opinion are great example to make me gather more knowledge about this topic and learned it more accurately