1. Declaration of Independence
-June 1776 Congress was debating
Independence
Richard Henry Lee
-Committee appointed to begin work
on formal document
-meant to explain the reasons for
independence
-mostly written by Thomas
Jefferson
-Congress edited the final draft
-Issued July 4, 1776

2. Declaration of Independence
-June 1776 Congress was debating
Independence
Richard Henry Lee
-Committee appointed to begin work
on formal document
-meant to explain the reasons for
independence
-mostly written by Thomas
Jefferson
-Congress edited the final draft
-Issued July 4, 1776

3. Concepts in the Declaration
-Jefferson took ideas from many
Enlightenment thinkers
-Natural Rights and Social Contract
from John Locke
-All men are created equal
-Listed specific reasons for our
independence
-Grievances against King George III
and the British Parliament
-Does not describe any particular
form of government for the new
nation

4. Eternal Statement
-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.”

5. Choosing Sides
-Loyalists
those who remained loyal to the
King and the British
often called Tories
-Patriots
those who supported the move
for independence
risked everything because they
could be hung as traitors
-Undecided
As many as a third of the
colonists were undecided as to
whether independence or
remaining part of England was
the best decision