1. Declaration of
Independence

2. This declaration was called the Declaration of Independence.
Congress asked Thomas Jefferson to write a declaration, or announcement, explaining why the colonies needed to break away from Britain.
Jefferson argued that people are born with rights that cannot be taken away, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
He felt that if your government is not actively protecting these rights, then the people should have the right to start a new government.
This declaration was called the Declaration of Independence.
The Declaration of Independence had five parts.
It took Jefferson two weeks to write the Declaration of Independence.
When he finished the draft, he had 4 other delegates help edit it.

3. Two kinds of people
Not all people were happy about breaking away from England This created two kinds of people: Patriots- those who wanted to break away from England and become a new country Loyalists- those who were loyal to England and wanted to fight to keep America as a part of them

4. 1. Preamble The Preamble is similar to an introduction.
It states why the Declaration is being written – to explain why the colonies must break away from Britain.
Jefferson felt that to break away from your government and start a new one, you must have good reasons.
© Erin Kathryn 2014

5. Preamble
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
The preamble means over time people need to branch out and govern themselves. Nature and God say we should become our own country.

6. 2. Declaration of Rights
The second part of the declaration states why people have rights that cannot be taken away.
It states all people are equal, and have the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
When a government tries to take these rights away from the people, the people have the right to change the government.
The people can then form a new government that gives these rights to the people.

7. 3. Bill of Indictment
The third section of the Declaration of Independence is the longest section.
It states all the complaints that the colonists had against the king.
The third section ends by saying the King George III of England was "unfit to be the ruler of a free people."

8. He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:  For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies: For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.  He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

9. 4. Statement of Independence
The fourth section argues that colonies have to be free to protect their rights.
It states the colonists’ independence from Britain.
This section says the 13 states have the right to make war and peace, to trade, and to do all the things free countries can do.

10. 5. Signatures
The last section is at the bottom of the Declaration of Independence.
In this section, delegates to Congress signed their names.
John Hancock, who was the president of Congress, signed his name in large letters.

11. Main Points of declaration
“We Hold these truths to be self-evident that all men our created equal.”
This means ALL men whether it by race, creed, nationality or sexual orientation should be treated the same!
“They are endowed by their Creator with certain Unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
All men have rights they are born with and no one can deny them these rights.

12. On July 4th, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was voted on and accepted by the Second Continental Congress.
On July 8, 1776, Patriots rang the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. The ringing of the bell was to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The bell was rung every year until it cracked in 1835.
Signing the Declaration was considered treason to Britain.
Treason is when you go against your own government.
Even with the threat of treason, the delegates signed.
The Declaration was read aloud to crowds all over the colonies.
People cheered and tore down pictures and statues of King George.
The Declaration of Independence marked the moment when Americans chose to rule themselves.