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Thomas Jefferson Declaration Of Independence Analysis

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The Declaration of Independence is taught to children as a letter sent from America to Britain almost like a breakup note, but this is not really what it was. The intent of the document is to convince a disparate group of British farmers and tradesmen, who lived in a colony far from England, that they had no choice but to unite in revolution against the tyrannical King. The Declaration of Independence artfully sought to find common ground among slave and free colonies, rich landowners and poor settlers by reminding them that they could all agree that the King was their enemy. Jefferson carefully used his words to single out the King as a tyrant that abused all colonists collectively. His patient recounting of a long list of intolerable acts of the King portrayed the dangerous and rash prospect of a rebellion as their only option and a sacred duty all colonists had to each other. Thomas Jefferson begins the Declaration by asserting the then radical notion that the government serves the people instead of accepting the concept that colonial citizens should serve their King. He then declares that …show more content…

Though Jefferson was a proud Virginian, he never mentions a single colony nor even any constituency among the colonies. He does not directly mention tobacco, cotton, slaves, or grain because he shrewdly speaks only of subjects that unite all interest among his diverse audience. Jefferson is adamant that his readers not view the proposed rebellion in the light of their individual interest. In great contrast to this, Jefferson singles out The King as the target of his argument. He chooses to spare the British people because they were “common kindred,” (2), “our British brethren,” (2), and suffered as subjects of the same tyrant. He omits a discussion of why treating the colonists better will benefit England, because he is not negotiating, and in doing so makes it clear that England is not his target

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His claim was evident in the first paragraph of the text with the statement, “…in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them to another.” Its placement as the first line of the document also directly contributed to the persuasion of the Declaration. This guaranteed that the French leaders reading the document were immediately and clearly informed of the motive behind the penning of the Declaration which XXXXx. Furthermore, similar to the colonists in America, the people of France had experienced numerous conflicts with the British which severed the ties between the nations. The claim’s use of mythos with this shared cultural connection ensured that the audience would be keen to listen to, and perhaps heed, Jefferson’s request for assistance.

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While writing the declaration the problem Thomas Jefferson was trying to address was the unjust treatment of the English colonies. For the most part, the English colonies where bullied and not given the right treatment by England. As a solution to this miss treatment Thomas Jefferson decides that the colonies should run them self as a completely separate country. Even if that means going to war. Jefferson chose the evidence he did to highlight the unfair treatment of the colonies.

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In the summer of 1776, Thomas Jefferson may have wrote the best “breakup letter” ever. Jefferson included in his letter a long list of grievances against the British and King George. In the long list of grievances he included: America's Declaration Of Independence against Great Britain. While Jefferson was writing the Declaration Of Independence; he felt like he was writing his death sentence and so did the signers of the document. Some topics that he included in the Declaration were how Thomas Jefferson was tired of how the king treated the American citizens, Equality, The Right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, Consent of the Governed, and Alter or abolish the government.

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