Dayna Lacoursiere

When the Declaration was signed in 1776, the 13 colonies and Great Britain had been at war for over a year. Since 1763, relationships between the colonies and Great Britain had been deteriorating. The war had placed the British government in debt, and so the government increased the tax revenue from the colonies. The Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767 are examples of these new taxes. The colonies argued that because they had no representation in Parliament, the government had no right to levy taxes upon them. The Coercive Acts in 1774 were seen as a threat to the liberties of all of British America. That year, the First Continental Congress met to coordinate a response. They organized a boycott of British goods and began to petition the king. These petitions were unsuccessful. For a while, most colonists continued to profess loyalty to King George. In 1776, Thomas Paine published his pamphlet Common Sense. Although this pamphlet had no new ideas, it stimulated public debate on the topic of separation from Great Britain. The Prohibitory Act, which created a blockade of American ports and claimed that American ships were enemy vessels, caused the support for declaring independence to rise substantially. Unfortunately it was impossible for Congress to take any steps towards separation until Great Britain gave them the instructions that would allow them to do so. In the campaign towards separation, many Americans formally expressed their views through over ninety declarations of independence. On June 7, 1776 Robert Henry Lee presented a resolution to Congress. This motion called on Congress to declare independence, form foreign alliances, and prepare a plan of colonial confederation. On June 11, Congress appointed a Committee of Five consisting of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman to draft a declaration. On June 28, this draft was presented to the Congress and was ordered that it lay on the table, meaning that consideration would be suspended. After two votes on July 1 and 2, the result was twelve votes in favour of the seperation and one abstention. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved and sent to the printer for publication.

The Declaration of Independence was drafted by Thomas Jefferson in It is the nation’s most cherished symbol of liberty. Here, Thomas Jefferson expressed the ideals of the American people. These ideals had already been expressed by John Locke and the Continental philosophers. Jefferson summarized this philosophy and brought to light a list of afflictions against the King to justify breaking the ties between the 13 colonies and the mother country. The Declaration announced that the 13 colonies were now independent states.

After hearing the Declaration of Independence, people in many cities destroyed any and all signs and statues representing royalty. Though many people around the world were interested in the act of declaring independence, the actual text was deemed unimportant. It wasn’t until the 1790’s when interest in the Declaration of Independence itself was revived. The statement “All men are created equal” caused quite a stir in the area of American slavery. The declaration was seen by some to have antislavery principles, and others said that the statement was false. Abraham Lincoln debated that the declaration was a set of goals to be realized over time. It is said that in his hands, the declaration became a living document. The Declaration of Independence was a hugely contributing factor in the abolishment of American slavery. The Declaration of Independence set the ideals and goals of Americans down on paper. In doing this, the declaration not only helped separate the 13 colonies from Great Britain, but also encouraged future good to come to the United States of America such as the death of American slavery. The Declaration of Independence set the course of American history, and future. It encouraged Americans pride in their country, and therefore was of great importance to nationalism.

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