The Declaration of Independence
of the Thirteen Colonies
In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political
bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the
separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent
respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to
the separation.
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. That to secure these rights, Governments are
instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That
whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the
People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on
such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to
effect their Safety and Happiness. . .
The above exert from the Declaration of Independence is merely the introduction and preamble. The
Declaration in its entirety can be broken down into 3 sections:
1. Introduction/Preamble—Statement of Purpose
2. List of Complaints—Complaints about how the American Colonies were being treated by King
George III of England
3. Statement of Separation—A statement to England and King George III that the American Colonies
intended to be free and independent states, thus were separating their ties with England. In short, it’s
a break-up letter to King George III.
It is written the same as any persuasive argument would be written still today.
The Social Contract Theory
A governmental theory authored by Thomas Hobbes and added to by Locke and Rousseau
The Social Contract begins with the most oft-quoted line from Rousseau: “Man was born free, and he is
everywhere in chains”. Humans are essentially free, and were free in the State of Nature, but the ‘progress’
of civilization has substituted subservience to others for that freedom. Since a return to the State of Nature is
neither feasible nor desirable, the purpose of politics is to restore freedom to us. So, this is the fundamental
philosophical problem that The Social Contract seeks to address: how can we be free and live together? Or,
put another way, how can we live together without succumbing to the force and coercion of others? We can
do so, Rousseau maintains, by submitting our individual, particular wills to the collective or general will,
created through agreement with other free and equal persons. Like Hobbes and Locke before him, all men
are made by nature to be equals, therefore no one has a natural right to govern others, and therefore the only
justified authority is the authority that is generated out of agreements or covenants.
The most basic covenant, the social pact, is the agreement to come together and form a people, a collectivity,
which by definition is more than and different from a mere aggregation of individual interests and wills. This
act of individual persons become a people is “the real foundation of society”. Through the collective
renunciation of the individual rights and freedom that one is born with, and the transfer of these rights to the
collective body, is the method of the social contract. The leadership is thus formed when free and equal
persons come together and agree to create themselves as a single body, directed to the good of everyone.
Included in this version of the social contract is the idea of reciprocated duties: the leadership is committed
to the good of the individuals who created it, and each individual is likewise committed to the good of the
whole. Given this, individuals cannot be given liberty to decide whether it is in their own interests to fulfill
their duties to the leadership, while at the same time being allowed to reap the benefits of citizenship. They
must be made to conform themselves to the general will, they must be “forced to be free”.
Consider how The Declaration of Independence uses the social
contract theory to argue for the citizens' right to rebuild their government:
What does The Declaration of Independence assume about human nature and natural rights?
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For what reasons do people bring about governments?
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At what point has a government become oppressive (tyrannical or unfair) to the people?
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Place the following terms into the most appropriate area on the Venn Diagram below:
Written By Thomas Jefferson
Originally authored by Thomas Hobbes
Governments should be limited
Oppressive governments should be overthrown
Declaration of Independence
Influenced by Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
Citizens have natural rights
Written as a persuasive argument
Unwritten agreement between government and citizens
Both
Social Contract Theory
Consider how The Declaration of Independence, the Social Contract, and
Common Sense are all related.
You live in revolutionary America and the day is July
4 1776. You and your fellow Patriots have finally
succeeded in witnessing the signing of the
Declaration of Independence which will once and for
all separate America from England! Some
individuals are not yet convinced to join the fight for
freedom against Britain though.
It is your job to convince the remaining Loyalists
(those who are loyal to the crown—king of England).
Those who you need to convince, though, are
illiterate thus cannot read the documents that you
have read and believe in. You must think of a way to
get the idea behind these three documents across to
those illiterate Loyalists in some way without using
complex sentences and grammar. Basically you need
to represent these ideas visually in a way that they
could easily see it and understand it.
You will fail at this task if all 3 documents are not
represented, so make sure that the overall ideas
behind all 3 are there, including at least one similarity
between all 3 and at least one difference between
them (one thing per document that makes it unique.
You may work with the two other students assigned to you, but make sure that you are all taking part in this
patriotic duty or you may fail to get the point across and lose the Revolutionary War!
Use the paper provided for this activity and be creative!