Critical Analysis Of The Declaration Of Independence

On June of 1776, the Declaration of Independence was born. Drawn up by Thomas Jefferson and based on the works of John Locke, the general purpose of the document was to clarify that governments have conditional, not absolute authority over the people; that human beings possess natural rights that can’t be taken from them and government is created to protect those rights. The phrases “unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” and “all men are created equal” were the main theme of the social contract written for the small colonies of what would be the basis of the United States of America to declare independence from Great Britain and its tyrannical king. However, “unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” and “all men are created equal” did not apply to African Americans, enslaved or free for the coming years.

“We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” - The Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence, completed and signed in July of 1776, marked the official separation between the 13 colonies and Great Britain. An armed struggle between the colonies and Britain had begun just over a year before, with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The formal declaration of independence established the new American revolutionary government and officially declared war against Great Britain. The primary purpose of the declaration was to assist the Second Continental Congress in obtaining aid from foreign countries. The document also clearly outlines the history of abuses the colonists had suffered under British rule since the end of the French

The Crucible is a play that takes place in Salem, Massachusetts during the year 1692 and in short contains Abigail the Reverend’s niece accusing several women of practicing witchcraft. This leads to a witch-hunt. John Proctor and his wife Elisabeth realize that Abigail, with whom John once had an affair with, started all this in order to get Elizabeth hung in order for her to be able to get back together with John. Trying to save his wife’s life John testifies in court about the affair. Elizabeth trying to save her husband, and not knowing he admitted to it, denies it causing John to be accused of witchcraft. John was offered the chance to sign a confession and save his life but refuses to do so as he is concerned over the innocent citizens

S: The founding fathers, Jefferson in particular, wrote the Declaration to persuade American loyalists to proclaim independence from the British crown. The text also embodies the concept of equality and state superiority. Jefferson's subject the disunion of the colonists from the country of Britain, and the establishment of a rational government, one that would serve in the best interests of its people.

While the Declaration of Independence states that “all men are created equal” and retain the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, this was not the case when slavery was involved. Slaves were imported into and seen as nothing more than property in the colonies. The Founding Fathers knew that slavery was wrong and needed to be changed, but didn’t really do anything about it. The problem kept getting put off and put off and was never truly addressed. Because of this, later generations believed that slavery was a positive thing for both society and the slave.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”, ( http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/index.htm). The Declaration of Independence is considered to be the philosophical foundation for American freedom and was executed eleven (11) years before the Constitution was drafted. The Declaration sent a statement to England that this was a new and independent country. The drafting of the Constitution started the basic legal granting of a citizen’s civil rights, and this document gradually expanded as Major Civil rights Acts were added.

The Declaration of Independence (1776), written by only educated white men – Thomas Jefferson (Southern Colony), Benjamin Franklin (Middle Colony), and John Adams (Northern Colony) - established the basic rights that citizens were entitled to in a free country. However, this document contradicted the Constitution’s claim that all men were created equal, particularly in racial and gender identifiers such as slaves, Native Americans, and women. Slaves were essential in the economic development of the South. Most southerners considered slaves as property, only three-fifths of a man, and as a result, equality for

The declaration of Independence is mostly known for its famous lines preaching for equality under the law and freedom. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. The Declaration of Independence serves as a hope for a new nation to brake free from its oppressive government and built a new government that is best suited to serve the public good.

The reasons for such an influential text as the Declaration of Independence can be defined in its written structure. First listed were the most important abuses and usurpations the colonists felt they had suffered at the hands of Great Britain. The 27 grievances forced the British to not only face their own crimes, but for the rest of the world to face them as well. To bolster the evidence of the colonies’ failed attempts at nonviolent reconciliation, requests for previous negotiations were expressed in the second section. Finally, an ideal picture of the new government to be put in place once free from British rule was presented, granting rights denied by the Crown.

During 1776, the Continental Congress wrote, signed and published an invaluable document, “The Declaration of Independence”. This document was only one of its kinds and has inspired people from all over the world. The preamble offers brief information about why the Continent Congress wrote this document. The third part of the document offers a list that includes 27 grievances of the colonists presented by their representatives in the conference (Mulhall, 2005).

John Stuart Mills, a 19th century utilitarian, formulated an argument that helped to explain the idea of the inalienable right to liberty written about in the Declaration of Independence. Daniel Callahan reformulated this argument making it into an explanation of the inalienable right to life rather than liberty, using the same idea in the premises. Callahan’s argument concludes that the right to life and the right to commit suicide are not compatible, therefore euthanasia is not permissible without the right to suicide. However, I believe that this is not the case and in this paper my goal is to prove that because of misunderstood terminology, the right to life and the right to choose death are, in fact, completely compatible.

Searching for the final draft of the Declaration of Independence, I figured my first modes of searching was going to google.com. I typed in ‘Declaration of Independence’ and thousands of different links popped up. I scrolled through the first page and searched some sites that I thought were most reliable. The first site, UShistory.org, did not have the information I looking for, so I tried again. The first link on the google search page was a decent source because it was a government page. TheCharterofFreedom.gov had the full version the Declaration of Independence. I began to read through it to make sure it was similar to what I read in the chapter “Declaring Independence” in our textbook.

The Declaration of Independence is a document that announced the separation of thirteen new colonies from Great Britain (Writing of Declaration of Independence). The document was drafted by Thomas Jefferson, revised by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin before handing the final draft to Congress on June 28, 1776 (Jefferson And The Declaration Of Independence). Furthermore, the draft was adopted and then signed on July 4, 1776, by the Second Continental Congress. While reading the Declaration of Independence, there are clear signs of other work being weaved into the official paper as “harmonizing sentiments of the day” (Jefferson). This included works from political idealist such as George Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights and John Locke's Second Treatise of Government.

When Thomas Jefferson introduced the quotation of “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence, it created a controversy while the acts of slavery were taking place in the United States. The quotation was seen in many speeches through out history and the era of slavery. The quotation simply implies that all men, people, are politically and morally equal to one another. While it states in the Declaration of Independence that all men were equal, they, slaves, were not treated equally.