The very justification for a government—protecting the rights of the people—was also the justification, in the absence of that protection, for abolishing that government. Their point, however, was that this was a morally justified war, waged because people will always have the right to defend their freedom.
Reading the Declaration of Independence, we see that the United States is a nation founded not on conquest or tribal loyalty, but on the idea of a free and self-governing people.
They knew the price, should they lose this battle with the most powerful country on the planet, would likely be the loss of all their wealth, as well as their lives.
To pursue their ideas took courage. It is easy to forget this, living as we do under the protection of the Constitution they established.
Because there will always be people who want to rule over others, however, we should remember that every generation of citizens must muster the courage to resist those who would take their freedoms away, whether all at once, or bit by bit.
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Foreign Policy. Olive Branch Petition. Women's Voices. Remember the Ladies. Version One. Version two Version three. Edited and introduced by Gordon Lloyd. Would the less moderate tone of the draft have communicated a different message to the audience outside of America?
To American loyalists and those uncertain whether to join the revolution? Is it likely that the explicit condemnation of slavery would have changed the conversation about slavery at the Founding or during the next eighty years? Who or what is the authorization for the Declaration? Is there a parallel between the complaints listed in the Declaration and the rights to be secured by the Virginia Declaration of Rights ? The Articles of Confederation ; "Vices" Some slave owners argued that slaves would become equal and worthy of natural rights only when they became civilized.
For Jefferson, a life-long owner of slaves, this was a much more complex issue. At an early age, Jefferson concluded that slavery was wrong. To his credit, he attempted to denounce slavery, or at least the slave trade, in the Declaration of Independence.
Some scholars believe that Jefferson agreed with the Scottish philosopher, Francis Hutcheson , that all men are born morally equal to one another and that "Nature makes none masters, none slaves. It appears that while Jefferson opposed slavery in principle, he saw no obvious way to end it once it became established.
If the slaves were freed all at once, Jefferson feared that white prejudice and black bitterness would result in a war of extermination that the whites would win. He fretted that if slaves were individually emancipated they would have nowhere to go and no means to survive on their own. Of course, Jefferson along with most other Southern plantation owners were also economically dependent on slave labor. The best Jefferson could come up with was a plan to take slave children from their parents and put them in schools to be educated and taught a trade at public expense.
Upon becoming adults, they would be transported to a colony somewhere and given tools and work animals to start a new life as a "free and independent people. Nothing ever came of Jefferson's fanciful plan. Slavery in the new United States of America would last another 89 years until the end of the Civil War.
But even then, the equality promised in the Declaration of Independence was denied not only to African Americans, but also to other minorities and women. Even today, Americans are still not certain what equality means in such areas as affirmative action, sex discrimination, and gay rights. The Declaration of Independence has no legal authority. But its words have resonated as the ideals of the United States. Abolitionists in the 19th century asked Americans to live up to the ideal of equality and eliminate slavery.
The civil rights movement of the 20th century pressured America to honor the commitment made in the declaration. The document still speaks to us today about the rights of Americans, as it did in PBS Newhour. In this activity, students discuss some of the ideals in the Declaration of Independence. Alumni Volunteers The Boardroom Alumni. Curriculum Materials. Add Event. Main Menu Home. The Declaration of Independence Even before the Continental Congress declared independence, most colonies along with some towns, counties, and even private organizations had issued their own declarations.
Natural Rights The members of the Continental Congress made only two minor changes in the opening paragraphs of Jefferson's draft declaration. For Discussion and Writing List the main ideas in John Locke's theory of natural rights and revolution.
Then read Jefferson's first two paragraphs in the Declaration of Independence. What similarities and differences do you see? Write a letter to Thomas Jefferson expressing your views on his ideas about equality and slavery. Form small groups to discuss the meaning of the three natural rights that Jefferson identified in the Declaration of Independence: "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
The groups should then post their answers for the rest of the class to see.
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