The Declaration of Independence (1776)

What is the Declaration of Independence?

-> It was an official statement of the colonist's views on the British Government and the Intolerable Acts

-> It gave moral and legal justification for the colonists' rebellion against the Crown

-> It justified the colonies' separation from Britain and explained their new relationship with Britain

The Intolerable Acts of 1774

Series of punitive measures passed in retaliation for the Boston Tea Party

-> closed the Boston Harbor

-> forced people to house troops in their houses

-> revoked a bunch of other rights for people in Boston

Right to Self Rule

Since a government's power is derived from its people, the people have a right to rule themselves

-> The colonies did not get a seat in Parliament so they could not influence the laws passed on them

Natural Rights

The Rights that all people are entitled to and the rights that cannot be taken without the people's consent

"when...it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with one another...a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to separation"

If the people want to abolish a government or separate from it, they should explain why

-> Why the Declaration Exists

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, ...with certain inalienable rights...life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"

All people are guaranteed these natural rights, which a government cannot revoke without the people's consent.

"...To secure these rights, government are instituted among men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed...whenever any form of government becomes destructive, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it"

-> It is the government's job to protect the people and their natural rights

-> It is the people's job to improve, abolish, or separate from a government that infringes natural rights

"Government long established should not be changed for light and transient causes...[people] are disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing [what they're used to]"

The colonists aren't declaring independence for light reasons, and if the Parliament's abuses were even somewhat reasonable in their eyes, they wouldn't be seceding.

-> later, it would justify why the constitutional government moves so slowly

"The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations...To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world"

The King gave the colonists many reasons to become independent, far surpassing the "sufferable evils" that people would be "disposed to suffer"

"He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them."

The King refused to approve important laws for the public's wellbeing unless they benefited him

-> why the president has 10 day to sign or veto a bill before it passes anyway (excluding pocket vetoes)

"He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected"

The King has suppressed opposing authorities and refused to reinstate them unless they supported him

"He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries."

The King has impeded and coerced the Judiciary to rule in his favor.

-> Why the Supreme Court has life terms and why they have fixed salaries while in office

"For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States"

In addition to these coerced judges, the King also forces the citizens of the colonies to house soldiers without their consent

-> Why the Third Amendment exists

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

The King has deprived the colonists' of a trial by a jury of his peers.

"these United Colonies are... Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is... totally dissolved

The colonies are separate from Britain whether they like it or not.