Declaration of Independence

Adopted July 4, 1776

Written by: Thomas Jefferson

Jefferson was influenced by:A) Jean-Jacques Rousseau (French Philosopher)

Idea of equality and that people alone had the right to determine how to be governed

B) John Locke (English)Idea of Natural Rights of Life, Liberty, & Property

** Both wrote about good government being a social contract

Jefferson describes (in DOI):

A) “Unalienable Rights” (can’t be taken away by gov.) such as

Life, Liberty, & Pursuit of Happiness

B) Social Contract (gov. is based on consent of the people)

C) How people may justly rebel against an unfairgov. that threatens their rights

D) List of King George III’s tyrannical acts and explained why the USA should be a free nation

“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 to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government.”

“The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.”

Page 1- Rough Draft Page 2- Rough Draft

Page 3- Rough Draft Page 4- Rough Draft

200 broadside copies were printed and spread among the colonies

*** Only 25 still exist today

This copy of the Declaration of Independence, known as the Dunlap Broadside, was on display under glass at the Minnesota History Center. John Dunlap of Philadelphia printed a run of official copies on the evening of July 4, 1776. This is one of the 25 which survive to this day. It was discovered by a Boston man in a frame he bought for $4 in 1989. More recently, TV producer Norman Lear bought it for $8 million. It is now part of the Declaration of Independence Road trip.

Philadelphia Printer John Dunlap

National Archives, Washington, DCLibrary of Congress, Washington, DC (two copies)Maryland Historical Society, BaltimoreUniversity of Virginia, Charlottesville, VAIndependence National Historic Park, PhiladelphiaAmerican Philosophical Society, PhiladelphiaHistorical Society of Pennsylvania, PhiladelphiaPrinceton University, Princeton, NJNew-York Historical SocietyNew York Public LibraryPierpont Morgan Library, New YorkMassachusetts Historical Society, BostonHarvard University, Cambridge, MAChapin Library, Williams College, Williamstown, MAYale University, New Haven, CTAmerican Independence Museum, Exeter, NHMaine Historical Society, PortlandIndiana University, Bloomington, INChicago Historical SocietyCity of Dallas, City HallVisual Equities, Inc., Atlanta, GAWashington, DC (private collector)Public Record Office, United Kingdom (two copies)

The colonies were now independent states- at least in theory.

True freedom, though, would not come until the war ended(1781) and Great Britain officially recognized the US as an independent nation.

3:27