2. First Part
• Echoes of John Locke - natural rights
• Tells why it is being written and the basic
principles on which it is based
– Limited government
– Representative government
– Rule by law
– Individual liberties
• Theory of Government
– Made rebellion respectable and admirable
3. Middle Part
• Detailed list of charges against King George III
– Shows how British violated the basic rights
• Imposed taxes without consent
• Quartered soldiers
• Denied right to a trial by jury
• Abolished elected legislatures
– Not an exact record but a summary
– Shift the blame to the King
– No mention of British Parliament -”others”
• Wanted to blame the King not representative government
– Slavery clause - better served if deleted (weakens
stance)
4. Final Part
• Explains:
– colonists efforts to achieve a peaceful settlement
– British government stubbornness
– America’s resolve to be free
• Concludes with a restatement of Henry Lee’s
earlier resolution (June 7, 1776)
– Official act of separation by Continental Congress
5. Final Approval
• Congress approved the document
– John Hancock signed first as President of the Congress.
– Over next several months 55 others signed.
• Ben Franklin’s observation:
– In the eyes of the British government, this action made
them traitors. If the signers did not “hang together” in
pursuing independence, they would “most assuredly
hang separately.”
