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The Declaration of Independence has three parts.
The first section explains the basic rights of all people. It says that because these rights haven’t been respected, it is the colonists’ duty to split from Great Britain. The second, longest section is a list of complaints against the king. The third section formally declares independence.
▲ This sentence from the first part of the Declaration is one of the most important in the history of our country. The word all is important. Previously, the colonists said that the policies of the British government denied them their rights as Britons. But they couldn’t win that argument, because the British government said it got to decide what the rights of Britons were. So in the Declaration of Independence, the colonists claim that the rights they want are the rights of all people everywhere, no matter where they live. The word equal doesn’t mean that all people are the same. People have different backgrounds, talents, and interests. What equal means is that all people are born with equal rights. And those rights should be respected and protected by the government.
▲ This statement from the first section of the Declaration gives the colonists a short but powerful reason to declare independence. It says that the British government is working against the natural rights of the colonists. Therefore, the colonies have the right to end their relationship with this government. Then they can create a new government that protects these natural rights.
The third section of the Declaration is only 326 words long. It says that the colonists tried to solve their problems with Britain peacefully. But their efforts were rejected. The colonies declare themselves “free and independent states” with the right to make their own laws. Finally, the colonies agree to work together. The Declaration ends with these words: “...we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” ▶
◀ Jefferson borrowed ideas from John Locke, a famous English thinker. Almost 100 years earlier, Locke wrote: “No one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions.” Locke thought that life, liberty, and property were natural rights. And that all people were born with them. He believed the purpose of government is to protect these rights. He also felt that citizens should obey their government. But only as long as it protected these rights. But any government that interfered with those rights should not be obeyed. Here (from left to right), Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson discuss the document.
Some of the 27 complaints against King George III:
• He wouldn’t give American colonists a voice in Parliament.
• He didn’t allow colonists to pass laws without his consent.
• He forced colonists to provide shelter for soldiers.
• He dissolved colonial legislatures.
• He taxed colonists unfairly.
• He wouldn’t give colonists fair trials.
• His soldiers burned towns and attacked people.
▲ The colonists thought King George III had no right to rule, because he attacked his people with his army. He hurt them, instead of protecting them, as a real king should.
Think Piece!
Slavery didn’t end for African Americans until 1865. Women didn’t get the right to vote until 1920. Do slavery and denying the vote to women sound like government without representation, the complaint that many colonists had with Great Britain?
