The Declaration of Independence Scavenger Hunt

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering key terms, historical phrases, and philosophical principles found in the Declaration of Independence Scavenger Hunt.

July 4, 1776

The date when the Declaration of Independence was signed.

United (or Unanimous)

The word in the Declaration showing that all thirteen American colonies were in complete agreement.

Course of Human Events

The historical progression of human affairs and history mentioned in the opening sentence of the Declaration.

Self-evident

The word used by Thomas Jefferson in the opening of the second paragraph meaning obvious.

Unalienable Rights

God-given natural rights that cannot be surrendered or taken away from people.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

The three basic, unalienable rights that all human beings possess according to the Declaration of Independence.

Created Equal

The shared condition of all men stated as a foundational, self-evident truth in the second paragraph.

Consent of the Governed

The source from which a just government derives its authority and power, representing the will of the people.

Alter or Abolish Government

The right and duty of the people to change or replace their government whenever it becomes destructive of their essential rights.

Light and Transient Causes

Frivolous, minor, or temporary reasons for which governments should not be changed.

Despotism

The term used by Thomas Jefferson to depict the King as an absolute tyrant exerting complete authoritarian control.

Repeated Injuries

The phrase highlighting that the British Crown's abuse and mistreatment of the colonies had been an ongoing, continuous pattern.

Patient Sufferance

The demonstration that the colonies did not act on impulse, but rather exercised extended patience with the King's abuses before declaring separation.

Facts Submitted to a Candid World

The list of specific factual grievances presented at the end of the second paragraph for the world to judge the tyrannical actions of the King.

Absolute Tyranny

The primary object and goal of King George III over the American colonies.

Laws for the Public Good

Wholesome and necessary legislative acts that King George III refused to pass or assent to for the welfare of the colonies.

Fatiguing People into Compliance

The King's tactic of calling legislative meetings at unusual, distant, and uncomfortable places to exhaust representatives into following his laws.

Dissolution of Representative Houses

The King's repeated action of dismantling colonial legislative assemblies for defending the rights of the people against royal invasions.

Standing Armies

Military forces stationed in the American colonies during times of peace without the consent of local legislatures.

Mock Trial

A fake or simulated trial arranged by the British Crown to protect soldiers from punishment for criminal acts committed against the colonists.

Taxation Without Consent

The imposition of taxes on the American colonies by the British government without colonial representation or approval.

Swarm of Officers

A multitude of new British officials sent to the colonies to harass the people and drain their wealth and resources.

Trial by Jury

A fundamental legal right that was repeatedly deprived from the colonists by the British Crown.

Foreign Mercenaries

Large armies of foreign soldiers sent to the colonies to carry out works of death, desolation, and cruelty.

Petition for Redress

The formal method by which the colonists repeatedly requested relief from British oppressions, which was answered only by repeated injury.

Free and Independent States

The declared sovereign status of the thirteen colonies, possessing full authority to levy war, conclude peace, form alliances, and establish commerce.

Enemies in War, Friends in Peace

The phrase describing how the colonies resolved to regard Great Britain based on whether they were in a state of conflict or peace.

Lives, Fortunes, and Sacred Honor

The three personal possessions mutually pledged by the signers at the end of the Declaration to prove their commitment to independence.

Unfit to be the Ruler of a Free People

The Declaration's conclusion regarding King George III, whose oppressive and tyrannical actions proved him incapable of governing a free society.