Declaration of Independence

National Treasure

The Document itself The Declaration of Independence doesn’t have a map on the back. Despite this shortcoming, it is a very influential document to the history of modern democracy.

Question Why is the Declaration of Independence still important today? Take 2 minutes and write on a piece of paper. Quick Review from last time: What events lead up to the Declaration?

The Ideas There are a few people that you need to know about John Locke- wrote about the rights of people to “Life, liberty, and property” Locke’s Social Contract Theory states that a government is in a “contract” with a people, and when the government isn’t doing it’s job, the people have the right to change the system.

The Ideas Thomas Paine- came along much later than John Locke. Paine had similar views, but just specified them towards the colonies. His pamphlet Common Sense didn’t introduce any new ideas, but opened up debate about the independence.

The Ideas Thomas Jefferson- author of the Declaration Was a strong believer in Locke’s ideals Quote for thought/discussion: “Believe me, dear Sir: there is not in the British empire a man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain than I do. But, by the God that made me, I will cease to exist before I yield to a connection on such terms as the British Parliament propose; and in this, I think I speak the sentiments of America.”

Leading up to Independence Many colonies had already been thinking about leaving Britain. North Carolina and Rhode Island moved to declare independence, while others held back but considered it. John Adams and Richard Henry Lee decided that they were going to push the issue.

The Resolution Lee presented the resolution to declare independence on June 7 th The 2 nd Continental Congress then made a committee to compose a draft. It was John Adams, Ben Franklin, Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman, and Thomas Jefferson (he wrote it)

The Big Moment The Declaration was submitted on June 28 th, It was edited until July 2 nd, at which point the colonies voted to pass the resolution. John Adams said “The second of July will be the most memorable Epocha in the History of America.”

The Real Big Moment On the 4 th of July, after further editing, the document was signed. So John Adams was kind of wrong.

The Declaration The first part was a statement of purpose and basic human rights: “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.”

The Declaration The second part listed grievances that the colonists had against King George The conclusion stated that the colonies intended to break away from Britain, and that they had exhausted all efforts to solve the problems.

Influence The document had an influence on many major revolutions. Latin American revolutions in early 19 th Century drew from it. Most important was the French Revolution of 1789.

Independence from Easley Are you tired of having to wear an ID? Do you want to wear a hat in class? Having fishing breaks? A built in roller coaster at the school? Cool. Me too. So what we are going to do, as a class, is declare independence from Easley High School. We will split into groups of three, and each group will have to come up with a list of grievances, have an opening paragraph, and a closing paragraph. I will hand out the rubric, along with parchment paper for drafting of this Independence. There is also a possibilty of delivering your declarations directly to Dr. Mullis, so the content must be tasteful and respectful, or you will lose points and not allowed to present.

Final Writing Activity Do you think states should have the right to secede?