Excerpt of the Declaration of Independence (first essay)- AC PDF

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Aliyah Cerda GOVT 2305

After the culmination of the French and Indian War, the British crown was strapped for cash. As a result, the British Parliament and King George III imposed many restrictions and taxes on the colonists. Ranging from taxes on paper, to playing cards and tea, the colonists felt they were unjustly taxed without consent and without representation. These intolerable acts, as the colonists called them, finally were enough. The passage excerpted above comes from the Declaration of Independence. On July fourth, 1776, when Thomas Jefferson finished penning the Declaration of Independence, the document was signed and adopted, officially declaring independence and inevitable war. Thomas Jefferson’s inspiration for the Declaration of Independence stems from the philosophers of the Enlightenment, which was an intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th century which emphasized reason over tradition. Many consider Sir Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica and John Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding as the cornerstones to the age of reasoning or Enlightenment. It is from Locke’s work that Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration would be heavily influenced by. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson’s work reflects many ideals of the Enlightenment. For example, when Jefferson states in the preamble, “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, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to

the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation”, he was basing this statement on reason. Another element of the Enlightenment reflected on the Declaration of Independence is the idea that we are born with natural rights, or as Jefferson called them, unalienable rights or life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Additionally, Thomas Jefferson states that “governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”, an Enlightenment ideal championed by Locke that states that governments get their powers from the consent of the people. Adding to the idea of popular sovereignty, Jefferson reflects Enlightenment ideals by stating that people are the source of political power when he writes, “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new Government”. Continuing to add to this idea, Jefferson states that when governments becomes tyrannical and absolute and abuses its power, it is their duty to overthrow that government when he states, “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.” Among those basic English liberties that are reflected in the Declaration of Independence that have been long ancient in origin to Americans today, is the idea that all men are created equal. The idea that people are born with unalienable rights and are entitled to be free, to their livelihood and the pursuit of happiness. More basic English liberties and ancient American values can be seen in Jefferson’s grievances against a tyrant king; including the right to a trial by

jury, in the jurisdiction of where the crime took place, the right to petition, right to keep and bear arms, taxation with the consent of the governed and the quartering of troops in citizens homes with authorization of the inhabitants. A concept long held by Americans as paramount to democracy, checks and balances, is reflected when Jefferson states “He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices'', an idea that in today’s American government, the president of the United States appoints judges, however, they are confirmed by the Senate and serve for life. Finally, the idea that if one is accused of a crime, that that person be tried in the place where the crime was committed, not transported or extradited to a place where the crime was not committed. This is echoed by Jefferson when he claims that the king has “transported us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences”. The Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights, and the English petition of rights greatly influenced the work of Thomas Jefferson and reflect similar ideals found in the Declaration of Independence. All three documents were created with the purpose of limiting the power of the King and to create a democracy, in which the voices of the people are heard. Written in 1215, the Magna Carta was the first written document which attempted to set standards that the king was there for the purpose of the people. Although King John of England signed this document, he did not establish it to its full extent and disregarded the document. The Magna Carta listed rights such as: the right to petition, due process, taxation, and the right to bear arms; these four rights can be found in all four documents. After 413 years of repeated injuries and usurpations from the aristocracy in England, another attempt to regulate the powers of the king and his parliament was created. The English Petition of Rights created constitutional monarchy. The king was the face and head of the citizens, but his powers were limited by the government. Furthermore, The

English Bill of Rights, 1689, created the separation of powers. The English Bill of Rights protested for the rights listed in the list of grievances in the Declaration of Independence. Although the Declaration of Independence is largely based on reasoning, Jefferson appeals to God as the source of the new found freedom that the colonists are entitled to. In four different instances, Jefferson appeals to a supreme deity. In the preamble of the declaration, Jefferson claims that they are entitled by God to declare independence. Additionally, Jefferson claims that our unalienable rights are endowed by the creator, not man. Finally, at the culmination of the declaration, Jefferson claims that the colonists have tried everything possible to make it work with the British crown and have been met only with resistance and that the final course of action is to separate and calls upon Congress to declare independence and to appeal to “the Supreme Judge of the world” for the rectitude of its intentions and professes and its “firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence”, paving the way for independence....