DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE
You are one of the delegates to the Second Continental Congress. After reading Thomas Paine’s
pamphlet Common Sense, you are convinced that America needs to declare independence from
Britain.
Your task is to write a Declaration of Independence to present to the other delegates. DO NOT
LOOK AT THOMAS JEFFERSON’S DECLARATION. You must include three paragraphs.
Your first paragraph should be about natural rights, your second paragraph should list and
explain British wrongs, and your third paragraph should explain why America should be an
independent nation. Include a title at the top of the document and your signature at the bottom.
Things to Remember…
 When discussing basic, natural rights, keep in mind that these are the natural rights of
all humans. What rights do you think all people deserve to have? What did the
colonists want? What rights did they think they deserved?
 British wrongs include the acts Parliament passed and the way Great Britain treated the
colonies. You should use your yellow notes (especially the timelines), as well as your
textbook, to find things the British did that the colonists did not agree with.
 Why should America be an independent nation? You should recall some of the things
we learned from Common Sense, other arguments we have read, and incorporate your
own ideas.
This assignment is worth 16 points and is due on ______________________________.
STUDENT NAME____________________________
CATEGORY
Ideas
Sentences &
Paragraphs
4
3
Ideas were expressed in a
Ideas were expressed in a
clear and organized fashion. pretty clear manner, but the
It was easy to figure out what organization could have
the Declaration was about.
been better.
Sentences and paragraphs
are complete, wellconstructed, with high
vocabulary, and of varied
structure.
Period________
Date____________
2
1
Ideas were somewhat organized, The Declaration seemed to be
but were not very clear. It took
a collection of unrelated
more than one reading to figure sentences. It was very difficult
out what the Declaration was
to figure out what the
about.
Declaration was about.
All sentences are complete Most sentences are complete and
Many sentence fragments or
and well-constructed (one or well-constructed. There are a few
run-on sentences OR
no fragments, one or no run- sentence fragments or run-on
paragraphing needs lots of
ons). Paragraphing is
sentences. Paragraphing needs
work.
generally done well.
some work.
Content Accuracy
The Declaration contains at The Declaration contains 3-4
least 5 accurate facts about
accurate facts about the
the topic.
topic.
The Declaration contains 1-2
accurate facts about the topic.
The Declaration contains no
accurate facts about the topic.
Neatness
Declaration is typed (or in
Declaration is neatly handcalligraphy), clean, not
written, clean, not wrinkled,
wrinkled, and is easy to read
and is easy to read with no
with no distracting error
distracting error corrections.
corrections. It was done with
It was done with care.
pride.
Declaration is typed and is
crumpled or slightly stained. It
may have 1-2 distracting error
corrections. It was done with
some care.
Declaration is typed and looks
like it had been shoved in a
pocket or locker. It may have
several distracting error
corrections. It looks like it
was done in a hurry or stored
improperly.