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Issues In The Declaration Of Independence Essay

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In The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson writes, “When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth…” Thomas Jefferson is saying that when a group of people aren’t being treated how they should they need to separate from each other instead of suffer. The problems when asking for better treatment, which led to the colonists wanting independence from the king were unfair treatment, refusal of rights, and inequality. The first problem the colonists had with Britain was unfair treatment from the King. The King wanted the colonists to struggle, so he made all the colonists suffer by transporting them overseas and having unfair court trials to make them guilty. According to the Declaration of Independence “For transporting us beyond Seas to be …show more content…

Many of the colonists felt that they were just slaves to the king and they didn’t like that so it motivated them to stand up to the king. According to Patrick Henry’s speech in the Virginia Convention,”For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate.” Henry is saying that he doesn’t feel that the king has taken his right of freedom and that he feels like a slave to the king and states that the people shouldn’t be happy about what has been happening to them. The colonists were also upset over the fact that the King imposed many things on the colonists without their say in anything. According to the Declaration of independence,”For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.” Jefferson is speaking for all colonists who are upset that the king has introduced taxes on the colonists, but that the colonists had no representation in parliament so they couldn’t fight back to stop

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The colonists desired a sense of freedom and power that was not obtained by the sovereign rule of England, so they instituted an improved governmental system that resolved most of their concerns, but was not without faults. The way England was controlling and monarchially put doubts and frustration in the minds of the commonfolk in America who felt used and dissatisfied (Doc 1). As a result, the Declaration of Independence was written that renounced the jurisdiction of Great Britain and gave themselves the independence. This also had the negative impact of the descent into fighting and the allegiance issue (Doc 2). Shown in document 3, there was a separation of the population in the colonies because some remained loyal to the crown.

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Freedom Even though the colonists did not have a clear understanding of freedom because they were under the rule of a tyrant, the Speech in the Virginia Convention and Crisis #1, written by Patrick Henry and Thomas Paine, both motivated the colonists and congress to aspire and achieve freedom. Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry both used very similar quotes to motivate the colonists into realizing that fighting the British king would grant them freedom at last. No matter how many times the American colonists attempted to resolve things through petitions, remonstrations, and arguments the British were right there, smiling insidiously, but only proved to snare their feet. The colonists were tired of these lies and insults, so this is where Paine and Henry step in.

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Oppressive actions such as the Boston Massacre heavily shook the general public’s view of their British rulers. Unfair policies such as the Stamp Act, in which colonists were forced to pay taxes on almost all paper goods, further agitated unrest in the colonies. If it wasn’t for a mix of oppressive actions and overbearing policies, the Revolution likely would not have gained enough traction to sway the views of the general public, and likely Thomas Jefferson would not have had enough support to write the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson not only used the Declaration of Independence to announce the United States secession from the British Empire, but he also used it to express all of the injustices he saw against colonist’s natural

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735 Words | 3 Pages

Imagine of your friend used you to copy off of your homework, and you feel like you are not getting anything in return. How would you feel? That is exactly how the colonists felt with Britain. The angry colonists wanted to start a revolution against Britain because their unalienable rights were being intruded in their own country. They were used to salutary neglect, but the tight control the British had over them angered the colonists.

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The British placed taxes on goods, without the colonists having any part in the government, which went against their rights, so they decided to protest against the British. When the British had control over the colonies, the British were very unfair to the colonists, they placed taxes on many goods, like sugar, tea, stamps, and more. The colonists had the right to either have a representative in Parliament, or the Parliament to ask for the colonists opinion on the taxes. The colonists had no representatives in government, and the PArliament did not consent the colonists about being taxed, which they called “taxation without representation.” They used this slogan to show their reason for protest .

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The colonists were not only angry because of the taxes. They had no power to represent to British that they did not like the taxes. They adapted a saying (“No taxation without representation”) to say that the British can not tax without

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The colonists got angry by this and started rebelling because they did not want to quarter the soldiers and have to do everything for them. However Britain also had power over America by being able to tax them whenever they wanted and however they wanted. George Grenville, Member of Parliament (January 14, 1766) said "The supreme legislative power over America, is granted. It cannot be denied; and taxation is a part of that sovereign power" (Doc 4). Since Britain was able to tax the colonists to make money for the French and Indian war the colonists started rebelling because they did not want to be taxed for items that they used everyday.

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In this essay written by Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson announces the separation of the thirteen colonies from Great Britain because of their controlling manner over their freedoms and life itself. Throughout his statement, Jefferson begins to mention the start of the nation’s new start and how no man should have to be completely controlled by their government or treated differently when every man should secure all their given rights as a human being. Jefferson then went on to explain that when a government becomes destructive or harmful to it’s people, the people should then completely abolish the government or find a way to alter it to create a new fresh government that is for it’s people, not against.

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They declared in this document that as subjects of the king they have the same rights as british colonists. Only the colonies have the rights to places taxes on the american colony. In Resolutions of the Stamp Act, they state, “that the only representatives of the people of the colonies, are persons chosen therein by themselves, and that no taxes ever have been, or can be constitutionally imposed on them, but by their respective legislatures” (pgh. v). In The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved, in the text they explain the rights that belong to all the american colonists, as well as the slaves. It illustrates the colonists growing frustration with the laws that the british were enforcing.

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The document goes on to state, “The history of the present King of Great Britain…of an absolute tyranny over these States” (242). In this particular piece, the society has turn against an individual, rather than an individual turning away from a society’s standards. Jefferson writes about the colonist’s realities. He does so by stating, “When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to…declare the causes which impel them to the separation” (240). Jefferson asserts that the people don’t get the respect they deserve.

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426 Words | 2 Pages

Because of the great amount of power Britain possessed, the colonists were under oppression, ultimately taking action to defend themselves. Namely, according to document 5, the author states, “what is to defend us against so enormous, so unlimited power?”. As the taxes began to mound on top of one over the other, the colonists began to feel overwhelmed. In response, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and three others, created the Declaration of Independence as a call to war, to offset British rule. Like the Stamp Act, the colonists answered with violence, and the violence only increased as the British made sure to oppress the

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816 Words | 4 Pages

On July 4th, 1776, Thomas Jefferson published the Declaration of Independence for the purpose of explaining to the world the reasons why the colonies wanted to become independent from Great Britain. Inspired by John Locke, Jefferson explained the reasoning behind why the colonists needed to seek Independence from Great Britain. Jefferson argued that Great Britain violated the natural rights of the colonists. Some have argued that the colonists were justified because Jefferson was accurate in his assessment. However, in some cases, the British didn’t violate the natural born rights of the colonists.

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839 Words | 4 Pages

Jefferson explains some of the King’s actions to make them submit to him. These are some of the reason why the Colonist have decided to break their bonds with Britain. Another example is: 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. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.

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753 Words | 4 Pages

The colonists were not getting an equal say in their government and were being taxed unfairly. Since they lived across the ocean, it only seemed rational that after trying to reason with the king to no avail, that they sever their ties with England and form a new government. A government where all people had equal say and where they were free to worship God in the way that they believed. They wrote the declaration of independence, signed it, and sent it off to England, hoping that it would be over without a single shot. When it became evident that they were not going to get the peaceful secession that they wished for Benjamin Franklin said, " We must all hang together, or assuredly we will hang separately.

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During the writing of “The Declaration of Independence”, Thomas Jefferson go to great lengths to describe why the colonies were choosing to separate themselves from Great Britain. This is done not only so readers will have a detailed description of what the American people were facing while being ruled by the King. The vivid depiction of all the cruelty he has shown towards the people. Furthermore, the lengthy, highly descriptive examination of all the wrongs and showing that the colonists made many appeals to the King but also the people of Britain that the reader now feels as if it is wrong for the Colonies to be under Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson begins by detailing the ethical standings of all people that live within the colonies.

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