The Declaration Of Independence, By Thomas Jefferson, And Martin Luther King Jr.

Thomas Jefferson has always been a very prominent writer even at a young age when he created a pamphlet that was against parliamentary authority of Great Britain. Many praised him for this and may of his other works later on. This praise led to the leaders of the thirteen colonies electing him to be the main writer of the document that would enable all of their freedom from Great Britain: the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson, as well as everyone else in the colonies, believed that they should have their freedom because Britain was uprising the colonies, taking away their rights, and trying to make slaves out of the colonists.

Thomas Jefferson was a founding father and the writer of the Declaration of Independence. His beliefs on freedom and unalienable rights are what lead us to our independence. His arguments for breaking away from the king of England include the repeated petitions by the colonists, the quartering of slaves in homes, and the certain unalienable rights which are given to every man upon birth, among other things. Thomas Jefferson uses logos, ethos, his mastery of the English language, and diction to make his position clear to the colonists and to the world.

In his document, The Declaration of Independence (1776), Jefferson and the representatives in the general congress proclaim that because all men possess unalienable rights, and due to the transgressions committed by the repressive British King against the people of the 13 colonies, the colonists should be entitled to dissolve all allegiance to the crown of Great Britain, and engender a new nation that “[has] full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do”(4). Jefferson supports this proclamation by enumerating the rights of people when both facing and not facing a corrupt government, distinguishing the copious actions of King George

The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, was an important document that helped the colonists while their rights weren’t being respected by the government or the King. He continued by saying they didn’t take necessary laws into consideration or they abolished the laws they desperately needed. Jefferson argues that everyone should be treated equally and have the same rights, these were known as unalienable rights. In the letter, Jefferson uses logos, pathos, and ethos to further explain himself and convince the colonists to join him in declaring their independence. Jefferson begins by stating, “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.”

In comparing Thomas Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptists, The Declaration of Independence, and U.S. Constitution, it is evident that the basis of all three documents is the idea that all human beings possess God-given fundamental rights and that government is created to protect those rights. The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, is the first of the three documents penned. This is important because it defined the rights of liberty and equality of all American citizens as outlined in John Locke’s natural law thesis (Martin, page 113). In addition to providing an itemized account of the grievances colonist’s held against King George III of England, it served to justify the colonist’s quest for independence and separation from British rule. The Declaration of Independence conveyed to the crown that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, which among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The Founders’ of the New World understood that their pursuit of liberties and autonomy specified in the Declaration of Independence could not come to fruition without instituting decrees. In 1787, the U.S. Constitution, was written to replace the Articles of Confederation with a better defined series of stringent laws that would legally uphold the freedoms and privileges established in the Declaration of Independence. The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights in

Every individual has their own definition of freedom.  Depending on time, place, religion, or race, this definition varies, but essentially comes back to one point: all men, regardless of anything, are created equally, and therefore have a right to be free.  "The Declaration of Independence," by Thomas Jefferson, and Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" are two works addressing this concern.  Although Jefferson and King led extremely different lives over 150 years apart, both faced issues of human equality that drove them to write two of the most influential works in American history.

Enlightenment ideas helped the Americans fight against British rule and create a new nation. With the fight for their new nation came the Declaration of Independence. This document is based on the beliefs of John Locke. John’s teachings mostly focused on self-government and natural rights. John Locke Believed that everyone was created equal with the same three natural rights. The Declaration of Independence argued for natural rights and equality as well. The Declaration of Independence was influenced by Locke’s idea of Equal rights and self-government. They liked the idea of a Democracy, the rule of the people. The United States’ Declaration of Independence states. The American colonist separated from Britain because King George 3rd was not governing the people correctly. For example, he created “Taxation without Representation”. Taxation without Representation is when the American Colonist were being taxed unfairly. John Locke believed the government was there to protect the people, and if they were not being protected they have the right to rebel against the ruler. This is exactly what the American colonist did. The document by the colonies declaring separation from Britain, stated. John Locke’s beliefs of self-government influenced the colonies to rebel and become it’s own

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.

The search of a better society for all individuals did not stop with The Declaration of independence, nor did it end with the “I have a dream speech”, but the two share a passion for freedom that continues to inspire millions. Both the legal document and the speech share similar ideals in the sense that all men are created equal - even though the latter does a better job at being truly inclusive - call for change in the way things are run. Only one of these two calls for unity instead of separation, and that is the “I Have a Dream” speech.

One of the preeminent factors provoking the former Colonists to revolt from the British was concerned with liberty for all; this concept was expanded upon in Constitution, and subverted by the white men who wrote the Constitution. When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independance in 1776, one of opening paragraphs decrees the Americans right to liberty: “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”(Thomas Jefferson). Jefferson starts the document addressing the repressed liberty of the Americans in order to demonstrate the importance of fundamental rights. However, though Jefferson says “all men are created equal,” he does not specify a distinction of men, implying all Americans are equal. In the Constitution, the Preamble expresses the need for equality by declaring: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the

Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, which Congress adopted after revision on July 4th, 1776. It avowed that, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, 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,” that the government cannot violate. On November 15, 1777 the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation . In other words, this was the original Constitution of the United States, and formal sanction of the Articles of Confederation by all thirteen states did not happen until March 1, 1781. In fact, the Articles of Confederation did not hold the sovereign states together. It however, created a weak central government, which gave most of the power to the state governments. In reaction to the Lee Resolution, which proposed independence, the Second Continental Congress appointed three committees on June 11, 1776. The one committee drafted the Declaration of Independence. Another drafted plans for forming foreign alliances and the third made arrangements to form the Confederation. The present United States Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation on March 4, 1789.

Jefferson began the document by explaining that the rights of the Americans had been brutally molested by the unjust King of Britain. Following this accusation, he provided evidence of this abuse by listing not just a mere handful, but 27 grievances that the King had inflicted against the colonies. Lastly, the conclusion of this article publishes and declares that the United Colonies have the right to be freed from the British and that they have the right to govern themselves as any free country does. The strategic organization of the Declaration of Independence allowed the colonies to be powerfully represented by such a clear and prudently worded

One of the most famous quote people remember from the Declaration of Independence was, “ We hold these truths to be self- evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ Adams persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson to compose the original draft of the document, which Congress then would edit to create the final version. The Declaration was an explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare

“We seek peace, knowing that peace is the climate of freedom” stated once Dwight D Eisenhower. Thomas Jefferson, the father of our Declaration of Independence, had the same mentality as him in seeking for freedom. Jefferson decided to write this document as a way of declaring the independence of the United States from Britain. In the document, he states all the harm that Britain has done to the colonists: socially, mentally, and economically. Jefferson just like the colonist wanted peace in their lives, and freedom from the tyranny of King George III. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson uses ethos, pathos, and logos in order to justify their reason of separation from Britain.

He believed that it was time for America to break away from Britain’s rule and become its own nation, which could govern itself. To do this, though, it was necessary to write some sort of document which would state to the world the basic beliefs on which the nation’s new government would be built. This document was the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson felt that Britain was doing nothing but hurting America with unfair rules and all sorts of ridiculous taxes. The colonies and colonists had no rights in determining the very laws which dictated the way they led their lives. The Declaration of Independence was a formal document stating that the people of America were breaking away from Britain and that the American colonies were now “Free and Independent States.”