1. Declaration of Independence
What do you know about it already?
Left: Original DOI, approved on July4th and signed on August 2nd, 1776.
Above: Depiction of Thomas Jefferson presented the final copy to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia on July 4th.

2. What should you know?
July 4th, 1776 is the date the final draft was approved.
The Revolutionary War had been going on for over a year.
Thomas Jefferson did most of the first draft, but lots of others helped finish it up, including Ben Franklin and John Adams.
Jefferson was mad at the revisions made to his original (86 of them). He especially hated the removal of a condemnation of British slave trading.
The Declaration is housed at the National Archives; it has also been stored at the Library of Congress and Fort Knox.
About 200 copies were printed on the night of July 4th (Dunlap broadsides). These are worth at least 10 million dollars today. They are unsigned.
Most of the DOI is based on Virginia’s Constitution and Declaration.
Jefferson and Adams both died on July 4th, 1826 (the 50th anniversary).
The only words written on the back are “Original Declaration of Independence dated 4th July 1776” (no map).

3. What’s most important to us?
The Declaration of Independence relies almost entirely on two types of appeals:
Ethos (ethical appeal)
Logos (logical appeal)
“Assent” = approval
The first statement in the CATALOG of grievances means that King George III refused to approve the laws the colonists tried to pass to govern themselves.

4. Closing: Working with a partner, complete the following:
Annotate the opening paragraphs of the DOI. Define unfamiliar words, and paraphrase/summarize the meaning.
Paraphrase your assigned grievance.
Follow the directions in #1 for the closing paragraphs.
Prepare to present your grievances.
All unfinished work must be completed for homework.
Grievance presentation = homework grade
Annotations on opening and closing = classwork grade