The Declaration: Revision and Core Content

• The writers revised the end of the draft because they knew how important it was; lines were struck through and replaced to refine the ending.
• The revised draft included: the colonists' complaints against the British government; the principles of the new kind of government they planned to establish; and the declaration that the colonies were independent from Great Britain.
• A metaphor used: the Declaration can be thought of as a breakup letter from the colonies to the British.
• The act signals readiness to move forward beyond grievances to independence.

Influences on the Declaration

• The English Bill of Rights: the English document from 1689, written after the Glorious Revolution.
  • This document established Parliament as the most powerful political body in England, which was a change from when the monarch had more power.
  • It also set up freedoms of elections and freedom of speech; these ideas were essential for the American colonists.
• The Enlightenment: a major philosophical movement challenging many previously held beliefs.
  • The social contract: a theory about why people choose to live in societies, stating there is a contract between the government and the people.
  • People give up some freedoms to be protected by the government; the government is responsible for upholding this bargain and protecting rights.
• The Virginia Declaration of Rights by George Mason: influenced the Declaration and later the US Constitution's Bill of Rights and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man.
  • It set out ideas like freedom of the press, right to a trial by jury of peers, and freedom of religion.
• Thomas Paine's Common Sense: provided arguments for American independence.
• Overall point: The Declaration did not emerge from nowhere; it reflected other documents and political ideas circulating at the time.

After the Declaration was written and signed

• Once completed, the Declaration began to influence other people and documents.

Connections and implications

• Ethical/philosophical implications: the social contract implies that governments exist to protect natural rights, and that people consent to governance in exchange for protection.
• Practical implications: the Declaration’s logic supports independence movements and the later development of rights-based governance.
• Real-world relevance: the ideas influenced later foundational documents like the Bill of Rights in the U.S. and the Rights of Man in the French tradition.