DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE:
KEY FACTS
WHAT IS IT?
 Document that declared independence from Britain and the formation of a new country, the United
States of America
WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR CREATING IT?
Written by Thomas Jefferson
 Jefferson asked to write the Declaration by John Adams.
 Richard Henry Lee proposed independence
 Second Continental Congress decided a formal declaration should be written, forms committee (John
Adams, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson)
 Edited and adopted by the Second Continental congress. The Continental Congress decided that a
controversial passage in which Jefferson condemned slavery should be removed, as the South found it
offensive.
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE:
Richard Henry Lee’s Proposal to Declare Independence
The Lee Resolution is the official proposal for independence put before the Second Continental Congress.
The Continental Congress voted on and approved the resolution. It said…
"Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they
are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and
the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."
KEY QUOTE FROM THE LEE RESOLUTION:
“..these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states…”
the “WHEN”: TIMELINE OF DECLARING INDEPENDENCE
 Proposed June 7, 1776 by Richard Henry Lee
 Formally adopted and went into effect July 4, 1776. This date marks the beginning of the United
States of America as a country (before it we were just a colony).
 Signing completed by August 2, 1776
WHERE IT WAS WRITTEN: Philadelphia
WHY WRITE IT?
 All other possibilities of dealing with Britain had been exhausted
 The world deserved an explanation for America’s decision to declare their independence
 By stating these principles, Jefferson hoped to gain support for the Revolution, both at home and
abroad
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE: KEY FACTS
HOW DOES IT SAY IT/ HOW IS THE DOCUMENT ORGANIZED?
Organized into three parts:
1) NATURAL RIGHTS : discusses natural rights and the role of government,
2) BRITISH WRONGS: A list of offenses committed by the British against the Americans
3) DECLARING INDEPENDENCE: a declaration that American is independent from Britain.
The document
 Explains why the Declaration has been written
 Discusses of the rights of human beings and the responsibility of government to its citizens
 Shows how Britain has violated those principles by listing the grievances against George the III
 Declares the United States of America as a newly formed, free and independent nation
 Discusses the powers of the new nation:
-Make war and peace
-Make alliances with foreign nations
-Establish commerce
-“do all other acts and things which
independent states” do
 Says that the new nation is “open for business:” can make war, sign treaties, enter alliances with
foreign nations, and establish commerce
JEFFERSON’S IDEAS ABOUT PEOPLE’S RIGHTS AND THE PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT
1. People are born with inalienable (God-given—cannot be taken away) rights, which are the right to
Life, Liberty pursuit of Happiness.”
2. The purpose of government is to protect the people’s inalienable rights
3. If the government does not do this, the people have the right to “alter or abolish” the government (GET
RID OF THE GOVERNMENT OR CHANGE IT)
-The signers of the Declaration vowed to pledge their “Lives, our Fortunes and our Sacred Honor” to
support the cause of Independence. (“To support this declaration, with firm alliance on the protection of
divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our Sacred Honor.”)
-After the Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed, the work was far from over. America still
faced the enormous challenge of having to win a war against Britain.