Declaration of Independence Analysis

Vocabulary terms and philosophical concepts derived from the Preamble, Grievances, and Conclusion of the Declaration of Independence.

Natural Rights

Basic rights that belong to everyone at birth, such as Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, which no government is allowed to take away.

Popular Sovereignty

The principle that final power belongs to the citizens, giving them the right to decide if a government gets to stay or should be abolished.

Consent of the Governed

The philosophy explaining that rulers only have legal power if the citizens agree to let them rule.

Social Contract Theory

The concept describing an agreement between citizens and leaders where people form governments specifically to keep their rights safe.

Unalienable Rights

Rights endowed by the Creator that cannot be taken away, including Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

Despotism

A form of government characterized by absolute power and a design to reduce the people under absolute control; the Declaration states it is the people's duty to throw off such government.

Prudence

A quality that dictates that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes.

Usurpations

Illegal or unjust seizures of power; the history of the King of Great Britain is described as a history of repeated injuries and usurpations.

Tyranny

The establishment of absolute rule over states, defined by acts that make a prince unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Grievances

The list of specific complaints made against King George III that translate into how his actions undermined the proper role of government.

Right of Representation

A right described as inestimable to the people and formidable to tyrants only, which the King pressured people to relinquish.

Standing Armies

Military forces kept among the people in times of peace without the consent of the legislatures.

Quartering

The practice of forcing regular citizens to house and feed large bodies of armed troops in their personal homes.

Trial by Jury

The right of citizens to have their cases judged by regular citizens, which the King deprived the colonists of in many cases.

Petitions for Redress

Humble requests for the government to fix problems and provide justice, which were answered only by repeated injury.

Mercenaries

Foreign soldiers transported to complete works of death, desolation, and tyranny, described as having circumstances of cruelty and perfidy.

Divine Providence

The protection of God, which the signers relied upon while mutually pledging their Lives, Fortunes, and sacred Honor.

Absolved from all Allegiance

The formal declaration that the United Colonies are free from any loyalty or obligation to the British Crown.