Declaration of Independence (Overview)

The Declaration of Independence is one of the most important documents in U.S. history. It can
be largely traced to developments that began at the end of the French and Indian War (1754–
1763), which had pitted Britain and the 13 colonies against the French and their American
Indian, allies. After the war the British Parliament ended its previous policy of salutary neglect
of the American colonies and attempted to tax them to help pay for the expenses it had incurred
during the war. The colonists cited the principle of "no taxation without representation," which
they traced to the Magna Carta of 1215, to question the right of the English parliament, in which
they were not physically represented, to tax them. By contrast, the British insisted that the
Parliament represented all Englishmen (thus virtually representing colonists as well) and that it
could exercise sovereignty, or ultimate authority, in the New World as well as the Old.

Breaking ties to the king

Long after many colonists had questioned the power of Parliament, they continued to recognize
an attachment to England through the king, who had issued many of the charters for the colonies,
and whom most recognized as having the right to direct foreign affairs of the entire British
Empire. Even after fighting broke out between the English and the Americans at Lexington and
Concord in April 1775, the colonists continued to petition the king for redress of grievances.
After he ignored these petitions, and especially after Thomas Paine published a popular pamphlet
in January 1776 entitled Common Sense that linked the British monarchy to oppression and war
and that questioned the institution of hereditary succession, by which the crown was passed from
father to son, the colonists were ready for independence.

On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia accordingly proposed three resolutions before
the Second Continental Congress, which was meeting in Philadelphia to express colonial views
in the emerging conflict with Great Britain. One of Lee's resolutions called for independence
from England, another for obtaining foreign allies, and yet another for drawing up a form of
government. The Congress appointed a committee of five to draft a document declaring the
colonies' independence. These individuals were Thomas Jefferson from Virginia, John Adams
from Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin from Pennsylvania, Robert R. Livingston from New
York, and Roger Sherman from Connecticut.

After discussion with others on the committee, Jefferson authored the first draft of the document.
Not only had he already written a pamphlet entitled A Summary View of the Rights of British
America (1774), but he had also sent a proposed copy of a new state constitution to Virginia, the
preamble of which listed grievances against the English that served as a model for the
Declaration. Adams and Franklin made some stylistic changes, and Congress extensively
debated and revised the document. On July 2, the Congress voted to adopt Lee's resolution for
independence, and on July 4, which the nation now celebrates as Independence Day, it voted to
adopt the Declaration of Independence as a written justification of its actions. The signing took
place over a period of months. Jefferson's authorship was not widely known until the presidential
election of 1800. He and Adams both died on the 50th anniversary of the congressional adoption
of the document, and Jefferson asked that his authorship be one of three accomplishments listed
on his tombstone.
A larger philosophical perspective
The beauty of the Declaration of Independence is that it positioned colonial grievances against
England within a larger philosophical perspective, which has served as a kind of national creed.
As the first paragraph of the Declaration explains, it was written to explain the reasons that the
colonists were declaring their independence from Great Britain, from which many of them had
immigrated and which they had previously considered their mother country.

In appealing to a world-wide audience in the Declaration of Independence, the colonists recast

familiar rights that they claimed as Englishmen into more universal human, or natural, rights.
The second paragraph of the Declaration thus serves not only as an introduction to American
grievances but as a philosophy of the purposes of government. This philosophy is often
associated with the British philosopher John Locke and other social contract thinkers, although it
may also reflect the influence of Scottish common sense philosophy and other contemporaries.
Locke had hypothesized that if humans were confronted with a state of nature without
government, their lives, liberties, and property would be in jeopardy, and they would join
together in a social compact, or government, to protect them. With Locke, the Declaration argues
that "all men are created equal," an equality that the Declaration traces to their creation by God.
The equality that Jefferson articulated was not an equality of talents, wealth, or incomes but an
equal entitlement to the basic rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Consistent
with Locke's philosophy that opposed the divine right of kings, Jefferson believed that when
governments fail to secure such rights, the people have the right to replace them with
governments that do so.

Charges against the king

As a lawyer, Jefferson composed the Declaration much like a legal brief. The central part of the
document contains a list of about 25 accusations of British abuses, including its failure to accept
needed laws, the suspension and dissolution of colonial legislatures, denials of due process, and
war atrocities, which Jefferson argued evidenced the desire of this government to rule
despotically. Most accusations begin with the words "He has" in reference to English king
George III. When Jefferson indicated that "He has combined with others," he was indirectly
referring to the British Parliament (hence his further reference to "Acts of pretended
legislation"), whose authority the colonists had already rejected. Toward the end of his
accusations, Jefferson further noted the outbreak of conflict and the colonists' vain appeals to the
British people.

Incorporating Lee's earlier resolution for independence toward the end of the document, the 56
signatories from the 13 colonies ended in a mutual pledge of their lives, fortunes, and sacred
honor. The signatories recognized that the British would consider their action to be treason.
Benjamin Franklin apparently warned that "We must all hang together, or, assuredly, we shall all
hang separately" from English nooses!

One of Jefferson's charges against George III, which the Second Continental Congress
significantly shortened to "He has excited domestic insurrections among us," was a long section
accusing the king of introducing and perpetuating slavery within the colonies. Southerners were
particularly anxious to downplay an accusation that, by recognizing the injustice of the
institution, might give slaves a justification to assert their own equality. As a slave-owner,
Jefferson would later lament that he had no solution to the problem.

Over time the Declaration of Independence has ceased to be a purely American document and
has inspired advocates of equality of opportunity, liberty, and accountable government
throughout the world.

Citation

Vile, John R. "Declaration of Independence (Overview)." In American Government. ABC-CLIO,

2000. Accessed September 29, 2014. http://americangovernment.abc-clio.com/.