LAD #3: The Declaration of Independence

1.  The Declaration of Independence calls for the creation of a government that is built on democratic principles. For example, it states that man is given certain unalienable rights, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Declaration of Independence also states that the government’s power should be in the hands of the people. This leads to the declarations next belief (inspired by John Locke’s Two Treatise of Government) that should the government not support these unalienable rights, than the people have a right to abolish their government and institute a new one.

2. The colonists wrote the Declaration of Independence as they felt that their writes had been violated by Britain and King George III. Some of the grievances expressed were:

• King George III to allow for the passing of laws that were for public good.
• King George III forbade his governors to pass laws that were for public good.
• Has dissolved representative houses regularly, going against the rights of the people.
• King George III has made judges dependent on him (their tenure and payments are controlled by the king) so they will vote in favor of him.
• King George III quartered large bodies of armed troops among the colonists and gives these troops extraterritoriality.
• King George III has forced the colonists to trade only with Britain through salutary neglect.
• King George III posed heavy taxes on the colonists without their consent.
• King George III took away colonial charters and changed colonial government laws.
• King George III abdicated colonial government.

3. King George III would not compromise with the colonists and placed heavy burdens upon them. With their protests being left unheard, the colonists decided to formally issue the Declaration of Independence, which stated that they wanted to abolish Britain’s political control over America. While the colonists wanted independence, King George III refused to compromise (as he had with previous grievances) and decided to go to war. As a result of the American Revolution, the colonies were victorious and gained what they desired, the ability to become free and independent states.