Declaration Of Independence Essay

1708 Words7 Pages

While creating the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, the founding fathers were influenced by older civilizations, different governments, and political beliefs. In the 1760s and the 1770s, tension between the American colonies and Great Britain escalated, leading to the American Revolution. This conflict lasted from 1775 to 1785 and resulted in the American colonies winning their independence from Great Britain. After the war, the newly independent states came together to form a federal government under the Constitution, which was created in 1788. The Constitution established a system of government based on the principles of federalism, separation of powers, and individual liberties. The creation of the Constitution …show more content…

Ancient Greece has been around for a long time, and a lot of the men that were a part of the making of the founding documents were well educated with their government beliefs and the different philosopher's ideas and thoughts from a young age. For example, the website seventhcoalition.org says, “Thomas Jefferson, writer of the Declaration of Independence, was taught Greek and Latin from the age of nine,[18] and Benjamin Franklin received instruction in Latin at grammar school and became proficient in both Latin and Greek later in life. James Madison learned Greek and Latin as a child and immersed himself in the histories of Greece and Rome. America’s first political leaders studied the works of the great Greek Philosophers, including Plato and Aristotle.” The founding fathers believed that Greece had strong ideas and put them to use in the founding documents. For example, the website seventhcoalition.org says, “ The separation of powers was first developed in ancient Greece and was widely used by the Roman Republic. The concept was the result of centuries of political and philosophical development. This model divides the state into branches or estates with independent powers and responsibilities. The usual consists of division into an executive, a legislature, and a judiciary.” The founding fathers wrote about the Separation of powers in the Constitution. The website seventhcoalition.org says, “ Article I, …show more content…

Ancient Greece had philosophers that came up with different government ideas but never actually put them into action. Ancient Rome on the other hand took those ideas and put them into action in their government. The men who inspired the American Revolution and created the American Constitution were imbued with the influence of the Roman world. They all had significant experience with Roman authors since childhood and were influenced by Rome’s unique form of government, which had supposedly preserved liberty for hundreds of years. The Roman Empire offered the Founding Fathers a vision for what America could be and a blueprint for the American dream and set out a plan for building their new country in the Declaration of Independence. The founding fathers used Ancient Rome's ideas of free trade, property rights, and the idea of the Roman Republican government. The website free.org says, “ A key lesson from the empire was about price stability. Enabling commerce at scale was an ambition of the Founding Fathers. People across the Roman Empire prospered from free trade. Trade also opened the way for those in the most disadvantaged positions in society to climb the social ladder.” The founding fathers mentioned free trade in the Constitution in different sections. The website free.org says, “ Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3. The Congress shall have Power… To regulate Commerce with Foreign Nations, among the several