“The Declaration of Independence” by Thomas Jefferson Guided Reading Questions (blue questions, Comprehension Check) pgs. 271-279 Blue Questions pgs. 271-276 1-8: The colonists felt that they needed to explain their reasons for rebellion to the world because to them, it was necessary to “dissolve the political bands which had connected them” to Britain, and that they deserved equal treatment in regards to “the laws of nature” and “nature’s God.” Therefore, it was necessary to explain their reasons out of “respect to mankind.”

Blue Questions pgs. 271-276 Lines 12-14: The colonists felt that the purpose of government was to ensure basic rights such as “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.” Lines 15-17:The colonists felt that it was right to destroy a government when it “becomes destructive” in regards to people’s basic rights.

Blue Questions pgs. 271-276 Lines 20-22: The colonists felt that government should not be changed for “light and transient causes,” or trivial reasons. Lines 39-59: The Governors refusing to pass needed laws, calling meetings at inconvenient places, dissolving assemblies, and not providing for new elections were some of the hardships the colonists faced.

Blue Questions pgs. 271-276 Lines 65-69: The hardships the British created for the colonial courts were the king refusing to approve laws to establish courts and making judges’ terms in office and their salaries uncertain. Lines 81-84: The objections the colonists had about British soldiers in America were that the colonial legislatures had not consented to their presence and were dangerous because they were protected from wrongdoing.

Blue Questions pgs. 271-276 Lines 85-101: The additional hardships put on colonial lawmakers were their laws being abolished and legislatures suspended.

Comprehension Check pg. 279 The main reason for writing the Declaration, which is stated in the Preamble, was that the colonists wanted to explain to the world their reasons for separating from England. According to the Declaration, the three rights all people have are “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The three complaints the colonists had against the king were: the dissolving of representative houses, refusing to pass necessary laws, and keeping standing armies in the colonies.

Parallelism in “The Declaration of Independence” The use of similar grammatical forms or sentence patterns to express ideas of equal importance is called parallelism. Makes both written and spoken expression more powerful. Jefferson uses parallelism in the Declaration to emphasize the equal importance of all his complaints.

Examples of Parallelism in “The Declaration of Independence” We have warned… We have reminded… We have received… For quartering… For protecting… For cutting off… He has kept… He has affected… He has combined…