Parts of the Declaration of Independence.

Natural Law

“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.”

Social Contract Theory

“That to secure these
rights, Governments are instituted among Men,
deriving their just powers from the consent of
the governed.”

Justification for Revolution: Great Britain has
broken the social contract

“That whenever any form of
government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or
abolish it, and to institute new Government....”

Highlights the problems of a “fusion of powers”

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

The idea of a permanent standing army would
later become a controversial proposal

“He has kept among us, in times of peace,
Standing Armies without the Consent of our
legislatures”

3rd Amendment

For quartering large bodies of armed troops
among us

(1) Represents a lack of “due process”
which is considered a natural right

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

(2) Represents a lack of “due process”
which is considered a natural right

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

(3) Represents a lack of “due process”
which is considered a natural right

“For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for
pretended offences”

Taxation without representation

“For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent”

What section was based on Richard Henry Lee’s Resolution
introduced in the 2nd Continental Congress?

“That these United Colonies are, and of Right
ought to be Free and Independent States; that
they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the
British Crown, and that all political connection
between them and the State of Great Britain, is
and ought to be totally dissolved”

Who wrote the majority of the Declaration of Independence?

Thomas Jefferson

Who was in the Committee of Five?

• Thomas Jefferson

• John Adams

• Benjamin Franklin

• Roger Sherman

• Robert R. Livingston