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The Declaration of Independence has three parts.
The first section describes the basic rights of all people. It explains that since these rights have not been respected, it is the duty of the colonists to break away 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 had claimed that the policies of the British government denied them their rights as Britons. But they could not win this argument, for the British government claimed the right to decide what the rights of Britons were. Therefore, in the Declaration of Independence, the colonists claim that the rights they seek are the rights of all people everywhere, without regard for nationality. The word equal does not mean that all people are the same. People have different backgrounds, talents, and interests. What equal does mean is that all people are born with equal rights that should be respected and protected by the government.
▲ This statement from the first section of the Declaration gives the colonists short but powerful reason for declaring independence. It states 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. They can then create a new government that protects these natural rights.
The third section of the Declaration is only 326 words long. It states that the colonists tried to settle their complaints with Britain peacefully, but that 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, ending the Declaration with these words: “...we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” ▶
◀ Jefferson borrowed from the ideas of John Locke, a famous English thinker. Almost 100 years before the Declaration, 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 that all people are born with. He believed the purpose of government is to protect these rights. He also felt that citizens should obey their government as long as it protected these rights, but that any government that interfered with these 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 refused to give American colonists representatives in Parliament.
• He did not 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 refused to allow colonists fair trials.
• His soldiers burned towns and attacked people.
▲ In the view of the colonists, King George III had given up his right to rule by attacking his people with his army and doing them harm, instead of protecting them, as a real king should.
Think Piece!
Slavery did not end for African Americans until 1865. Women did not gain 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?
