How Did The Declaration Of Independence Affect Black Freedom

Ajah Yee
Professor Wilson
African American Studies
22 November 2015
Word Count: 1200
The Declaration of Independence Affect on Black Freedom
On July 4th 1776 during the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, the Declaration of Independence was issued to explain the principles and rationale to the break from the English kings ruling. The Declaration of Independence is a legal document that was originally created to establish independence for white landowners from the British Rule. During the time of the Second Continental Congress many of the thirteen colonies, especially Virginians who had aggressively sought independence, had already established their separation from King George, the English King. However, although the main reason

Because Virginia was one of the wealthiest colonies due to the production of tobacco, wealthy and powerful slave owners wanted assurance that their interests, their slaves, were safe. The same line in the original declaration also implies that there would be no immediate or drastic change to the institution of slavery, nor would there be any legal challenges against it either. By referencing the people who are outside “a state of society,” it refers to those who were enslaved and therefore were not by colonial political or legal standards equally independent or have ownership of any rights. While the vision for some of the colonists were that the enslaved would one day work their way into society, the Declaration of Rights prevented that opportunity for enslaved blacks to ensure that white slave owners could continue profiting from owning and trading black slaves. While the idea of the Declaration of Independence ultimately gave enslaved blacks hope for their rights, independence and their freedom, this first attempt at the Virginia Declaration did not give enslaved blacks much hope for freedom and independence, but rather as a legal safety net for white slave

Thomas Jefferson, one of the founders of the Declaration, was the second colonist to rewrite Virginia’s Declaration of Rights, and create the Declaration of Independence. Even though Jefferson owned his own slaves as well, and was not completely opposed to buying and owning slaves, he also envisioned of a society that was free and equal for everyone. That conflict left the Declaration of Independence difficult for Jefferson to write because he wanted to create a Declaration that satisfied both antislavery colonies and proslavery colonies. The two goals that Jefferson was trying to reach when he wrote the second Declaration was to justify the independence from the British rule, and to create an image for a new nation. He envisioned a new nation as one with democracy, political rights, justice, and full citizenship for all. Jefferson sought to make the beginning of the Declaration of Independence as equally appropriate for everyone. Jefferson