Declaration of Independence of America

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August 11, 2020

Declaration of Independence of America

Introduction

The Declaration of Independence is one of the most important documents in US

history. It was an authorized action taken through all 13 American colonies in announcing

independence from “British rule.” In July 1776, it was written by Thomas Jefferson and

included a detailed description of why the Congress declared independence from Britain.1 As

written by Jefferson, the “Declaration of Independence” was split into five parts, comprising

an introduction, a preamble, a body (divided into two sections), and a conclusion. In general

terms, the introduction successfully expressed that looking for independence from Britain had

become “essential” for the colonies. At the same time, the body of the document illustrated a

list of grievances against the British crown. Before the arrangement of the Declaration of

Independence, kings were trustfully followed dependent on a spiritual conviction that they

were legally picked by a higher force, granting these leaders divine right, being dependent

upon no natural position, and having total control overall.2 Repeated all through the previous

history, one would be articulated King by the methods for a claim or through the fight. This

paper discusses the reasons to write the Declaration of Independence and gives an analysis of

the key issues closely linked to the declaration.

Reasons for Writing Declaration of Independence

The main reason for the writing of the “Declaration of Independence” was to express

Americans’ convictions in their rights. The main purpose was to announce that the colonist

had to be independent and to declare their views and position on the government’s purpose.

Also, they wanted to influence other foreigners, including France, to help their fight for
1
Armitage, David, “The Declaration of Independence and International Law.” The
William and Mary Quarterly 59 no. 1 (2002): 39. Accessed August 11, 2020.
2
Hutson, James H., "The Partition Treaty and the Declaration of American Independence."
The Journal of American History 58 no. 4 (1972): 878. Accessed August 11, 2020.
 3

freedom apart from declaring their complaints to King George III. Numerous history

specialists accept that the primary impact of Jefferson was the English Declaration of Rights

that denoted the end, King James II Reign.3 As much as the impact of John Locke, who was a

political scholar from England, is addressed, he affected the American Revolution a lot. It

was also designed to perform various tasks. Its objectives were to get everyone excited, win

unfamiliar partners, and to report the making of another nation. The introductory sentence

expresses the Declaration’s principle reason to disclose the colonists’ entitlement to

revolution. In other words, “to declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

Congress needed to demonstrate the authenticity of its cause. It had recently resisted the most

powerful nation on Earth. It expected to persuade unfamiliar partners to join the fight.4

It was also written to declare the colonies’ separation from England and the suspicion

of self-sufficiency by the states. The Declaration also introduced a hypothesis of government,

communicated the colonists’ desire to manufacture a government dependent on democracy,

point by point and censured English oppression and the hypocrisy of Parliament, and

proclaimed war on England. It was made as a reaction to Great Britain straining the colonists,

so the establishing fathers chose to send an announcement to King George, proclaiming that

America would be free, and that was the reason for the American Revolution. It was a report

that communicated the beliefs of the colonists and the desire to have their administration

based on democratic ideals.5 This document would also be the reason for the US

Constitution, which is as yet the tradition that must be adhered to today. In June 1776, the

Congress of the assembled settlements named five delegates to create a formal composed
3
Lynd, Staughton, and David Waldstreicher, "Free Trade, Sovereignty, and Slavery: Toward
an Economic Interpretation of American Independence." The William and Mary Quarterly 68
no. 4: 598 (2011). Accessed August 11, 2020.
4
Lynd, Staughton, and David Waldstreicher, "Free Trade, Sovereignty, and Slavery: Toward
an Economic Interpretation of American Independence." The William and Mary Quarterly 68
no. 4: 599 (2011). Accessed August 11, 2020.
5
Alves, José A. Lindgren, "The Declaration of Human Rights in Postmodernity." Human
Rights Quarterly 22 no. 2: 482 (2000). Accessed August 11, 2020.
 4

announcement of autonomy; following half a month Thomas Jefferson finished the draft. It

was written to King George III and the world to pursue.

The Declaration for Independence has had three purposes. These purposes are the

theory of government, complaints’ list, and a declaration of war. The Declaration of

Independence was composed to act as a clarification to the universal community, the reasons

why the colonies were announcing their independence from England. A declaration of

independence will undoubtedly inspire an aggressive response from Great Britain, which was

quick to keep up its hold on America. Other European nations governed by governments may

likewise have restricted the move towards freedom by the colonies. The colonies

consequently expected to clarify their reason for an activity to different countries from whom

they looked for help.6 Armitage affirms this by taking note of that in its first decades. The

Declaration roused more consideration and analysis outside the US than it did at home. The

Declaration was clarified that the “American Revolution” would not violate European

statecraft of instigating revolution or rebellion somewhere else on the planet. When the

second Continental Congress was assembling, not all agents and Americans upheld the

transition to disavow Britain and accomplish independence. The document planned to engage

these doubters and show them the significance of uniting against Great Britain. Awful reports

that after this declaration, colonies that were acquainted with managing the crown perceived

that there was security in the union.

Issues related to the US’s Declaration of Independence

The issues in the declaration are not simply American, yet rather universal, and that is

unequivocally what makes the United States outstanding. Not its world at some random time,

which might be better or worse than that of other states; a nation recolored by its bloody and

6
Hutson, James H., "The Partition Treaty and the Declaration of American Independence."
The Journal of American History 58 no. 4 (1972): 890. Accessed August 11, 2020
 5

regularly cruel treatment of Native Americans, or by its resistance of slavery and its fallout,

cannot claim to be an ideal world.7 Nor even its success, for in such manner, little

Switzerland can claim to have surpassed present America. The United States, rather, is

outstanding in the universality of its argument, the standards that rouse and disgrace are

succeeding ages, and that offer the naturally American guarantee of progress, change,

development, and hope for the future. The declaration was largely focused on apparent

violations of king and royal officials' rights — possibly because most of the Whigs already

felt a breach from Parliament.8 Jefferson realized that the declaration he composed had

planted a bomb and lit a fuse under the institution that made his life agreeable. “I tremble for

my country when I reflect that God is just,” he composed, as the revolution concluded.9

However, he may have needed consistency and courage; he composed the declaration in any

case. The individuals who invoked American freedom were, similar to any group of

government officials, delicate and flawed human beings.

The declaration was important, particularly because of the way that it showed

expressly the conditions which were available in America when it was being made. For

instance, one of the key complaints of the thirteen colonies was concerning the issue of the

slave trade. The issue of abolishing slavery was placed in the main draft of the declaration for

independence. However, it was rejected off later since the southern states were against the

abolishment of the slave trade.10 Another issue which was shown in the declaration was the

7
Armitage, David, “The Declaration of Independence and International Law.” The
William and Mary Quarterly 59 no. 1 (2002): 39. Accessed August 11, 2020.
8
Schaller, Michael, Robert Schulzinger, Andrew Kirk, Janette Thomas Greenwood,
and John Bezis-Selfa, American Horizons: US History in a Global Context, Volume
Ii: Since 1865, With Sources, Volume 2. (Oxford University Press, 2014), 219.
9
Schneewind, Sarah, "Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence and King Wu's First
Great Pronouncement." The Journal of American-East Asian Relations 19 no. 1 (2012): 80.
Accessed August 11, 2020.
10
McDonald, Robert M. S., "Thomas Jefferson's Changing Reputation as Author of the
Declaration of Independence: The First Fifty Years." Journal of the Early Republic 19 no. 2:
 6

way that the King denied the colonists the ability to choose their representatives in the

councils. While the colonists believed that they had the right to choose the government to

oversee them, in the British government, it was the obligation of the King to do as such.

Achieving area and moving to America was the right of colonists to freedom. Since the King

had made it incredibly difficult for the colonists to do as such, the Declaration was extremely

significant in addressing such complaints. The Declaration of Independence neglected to

change the status of Americans as rebels, and not officers of a perceived country. If one

investigates the distant future, the preamble neglected to incorporate blacks, Indians, ladies,

and others as equivalents.11 The Declaration also neglected to secure those Americans faithful

to the crown from discrimination and expulsion, during and after the war. As extraordinary as

the document was composed, it lacked any type of implementation without British

acknowledgment, which at the time was not approaching. There are a lot more issues that

were available that were tended to by the Declaration as it was its purpose to do as such.

Conclusion

The paper concludes that the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas

Jefferson and adopted by the Second Continental Congress, explains the reasoning for

independence sought by the British colonies of North America in July 1776. The declaration

begins with a preamble describing why the colonists overthrew their ruler and decided to take

their position as a nation in the world. The paper stated the reasons for writing the

Declaration of Independence. This document has confirmed that it acts as a formal station for

the intention of colonies to separate their relations with their own country, Britain, and to

receive support from American and foreign citizens. The document has succeeded in

achieving its objectives and has thus guaranteed the independence of the great nation of the

(1999) 169. Accessed August 11, 2020.

USA. The Declaration of Independence was a document that states that the King of England

or any other recognized power would no longer govern the Colonies, which has nothing to do

with trying to resolve “equality.” The citizens of the United States of America settled upon a

contract with one another called the Constitution, and the Constitution gives “legitimate

equality.” The limitations set on the colonies from the British government significantly

impacted the authors of the Declaration of Independence and expanded the value of

republicanism in the American states.

Bibliography

Alves, José A. Lindgren. 2000. "The Declaration of Human Rights in Postmodernity."

Human Rights Quarterly 22 (2): 478-500. Accessed August 11, 2020. https://www-

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jstor-org.ezproxy.capilanou.ca/stable/3491637?

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Hutson, James H. 1972. "The Partition Treaty and the Declaration of American

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merica&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DDeclaration%2Bof

%2BIndependence%2Bin%2BAmerica&ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_.

Lynd, Staughton, and David Waldstreicher. 2011. "Free Trade, Sovereignty, and Slavery:

Toward an Economic Interpretation of American Independence." The William and

Mary Quarterly 68 (4): 597-630. Accessed August 11, 2020. https://www-jstor-

org.ezproxy.capilanou.ca/stable/10.5309/willmaryquar.68.4.0597?
 9

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merica&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DDeclaration%2Bof

%2BIndependence%2Bin%2BAmerica.

McDonald, Robert M. S. 1999. "Thomas Jefferson's Changing Reputation as Author of the

Declaration of Independence: The First Fifty Years." Journal of the Early Republic 19

(2): 169-195. Accessed August 11, 2020. https://www-jstor-

org.ezproxy.capilanou.ca/stable/3124951?

Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=Declaration+of+Independence+in+A

merica+Thomas+Jefferson&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery

%3DDeclaration%2Bof%2BIndependence%2Bin%2BAmerica%2BTho.

Schaller, Michael, Robert Schulzinger, Andrew Kirk, Janette Thomas Greenwood, and John

Bezis-Selfa. 2014. American Horizons: US History in a Global Context, Volume Ii:

Since 1865, With Sources, Volume 2. Oxford University Press.

Schneewind, Sarah. 2012. "Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence and King Wu's

First Great Pronouncement." The Journal of American-East Asian Relations 19 (1):

75-91. Accessed August 11, 2020. https://www-jstor-

org.ezproxy.capilanou.ca/stable/23613171?

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merica+Thomas+Jefferson&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery

%3DDeclaration%2Bof%2BIndependence%2Bin%2BAmerica%2BTh.