The paper of the people Published by: Madison, Lucas, Sophie, Eduardo and Analia The Declaration of Independence: Signed!
“ The Declaration of Independence was drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776. On July 4th, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed. The Declaration of Independence is at once the nation’s most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson’s most enduring monument. Here, in exalted and unforgettable phrases, Jefferson expressed the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people. The political philosophy of the declaration was not new; its ideals of individual liberty had already been expressed by John Locke and the Continental philosophers. What Jefferson did was to summarize this philosophy in ‘self-evident truths’ and set forth a list of grievances against the king in order to justify before the world the breaking of ties between the colonies and the mother country.”
“Throughout the 1760s and early 1770s, the North American colonists found themselves increasingly at odds with British imperial policies regarding taxation and frontier policy. When repeated protests failed to influence British policies, and instead resulted in the closing of the port of Boston and the declaration of martial law in Massachusetts, the colonial governments sent delegates to a Continental Congress to coordinate a colonial boycott of British goods. When fighting broke out between American colonists and British forces in Massachusetts, Continental Congress worked with local groups, originally intended to enforce the boycott, to coordinate resistance against the British. British officials throughout the colonies increasingly found their authority challenged by informal local governments, although loyalist sentiment remained strong in some areas.
The Declaration summarized the colonists’ motivations for seeking their independence. By declaring themselves an independent nation, the American colonists were able to conclude an official alliance with the government of France and obtain French assistance in the war against Great Britain.” “After the beginning of the Revolutionary war, the leaders of war wanted to explain to the King why they were fighting to be their own country and independent from England. Members of the continental congress, were given the job of writing a formal statement that explained what the colonists wanted. This formal statement was as the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, John Adams, and Robert R. Livingston. The congress finally accepted the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. The Declaration of Independence, along with the constitution and the Bill of Rights, helped from the United States of America government.”
The Declaration of Independence was written by many people, but mostly by President Thomas Jefferson. “The most famous lines were: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,” and that they have “certain unalienable rights,” which are rights that they can never give up” according to www.ushistory.org. Another famous line from the Declaration of Independence is, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The Declaration of Independence was approved by Congress on July 4, 1776.
CITATIONS www.archives.gov www.ushistory.org http://www.landofthebrave.info/declarationofindepe ndencefacts.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaratio n_of_Independencev http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/Signers/index.ht m
Many people signed the Declaration of Independence so we have made a list of all the people who signed it and what state they are from. Pennsylvania: Delaware: Massachusetts: New Hampshire: George Clymer, George Read, John Adams, Josiah Bartlett, Benjamin Franklin, Caesar Rodney, Samuel Adams, William Whipple, Robert Morris, Thomas McKean John Hancock, Matthew Thornton John Morton, Robert Treat Paine, Benjamin Rush, Elbridge Gerry George Ross, James Smith, James Wilson, George Taylor Rhode Island New York Georgia Virginia Stephen Hopkins, Lewis Morris, Button Gwinnett, Richard Henry Lee, William Ellery Philip Livingston, Lyman Hall, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Francis Lewis, George Walton, Carter Braxton, William Floyd, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Jefferson, George Wythe, Thomas Nelson, Jr. North Carolina: South Carolina: New Jersey: Connecticut: William Hooper, Edward Rutledge, Abraham Clark, Samuel Huntington, John Penn, Arthur Middleton, John Hart, Roger Sherman, Joseph Hewes Thomas Lynch, Jr Francis Hopkinson, William Williams, Thomas Heyward, Jr. Richard Stockton, Oliver Wolcott, John Witherspoon Maryland: Charles Carroll, Samuel Chase, Thomas Stone, William Paca