Julia Formentin. Mr. Gill. Pol 101-08. 3/2/17. Natural

The Declaration of Independence was formed resulting from the treatment of 13 colonies from the British government without representation after subsequent denials to be represented and treated equal. This historic document was revolutionary because it’s what began the transition of our government into a democracy unlike that of parliament in the 1700’s. The British government and their ruling made decisions that didn’t involve what was right for the people; only what was in the best economic interest of parliament. This caused significant hardships on the American colonies which eventually led to them coming together as a people and forming this declaration.

In the American Revolution, the British had firm control over the colonists and began implementing harsh acts to receive money. After the 7 years war, there was a huge money deficit and the British needed a way to regain their financial loss. This led to excessive taxation, which angered the colonists. They felt they were not given a voice in the government and that if they are going to give their money, they should have a voice. The colonists continued to protest these new rules and eventually caused the English Civil War. These struggles from the past led to new rules for the colonists and eventually the Declaration of Independence, which stated that all men were equality. The colonists and British would continue to fight through a revolutionary

One of the reasons the Founding Fathers had written the Declaration of Independence was because they wanted America to be free so that Britain could stop taxing the citizens. There were many acts going around such as the Tea Act, the Sugar Act, and the Stamp Act. The colonists had no representation in any of it. Sparknote had stated in their article, "the King interfered with the colonists' right to self-government and for a fair Judicial system." This had ticked the colonists off along with the acts. The King had also "instituted legislation that affected the colonists without their consent." This wasn't fair to the colonists and it would be understandable that they wanted independence.

When the colonists first arrived to the New World there were very few obligations and rules that the British government had set for them and they were on their own to live their life in the way they saw fit. Throughout the years, England realized how much of an asset the New World was to their economy. Due to the American colonies great advantages to their economy and their everyday lives, Great Britain became greedy and decided that only they should be able to exploit from the colonies. This greed prompted the Crown to implement new taxes and regulations in order to obtain a larger profit. After many attempts to work with Great Britain and being dismissed, the colonist declared independence from England. This caused the Revolutionary War and in 1783 the colonists were finally free from Great Britain. The colonists drew from the positive and negative experiences from the Crown's rule when writing their own country's government. The crown's supreme rule over all aspects of the colonists life compelled the colonists to incorporate a limited government into the Constitution. Because of the lack of representation that the colonists possessed during during colonial times, when making the constitution they secured the idea of popular sovereignty as an effort to make sure that all citizens could have an opinion in their ruling. Separation of power was implemented into the Constitution for the purpose of denying one person excessive power. Checks and balances fall under

England 's introduction of the intolerable acts upon American colonists created a ripple effect which they did not anticipate, which completely changed the views of many colonists. These colonists went on to become the voices that fueled the American Revolutionary War and spread the messages of liberty, freedom, and a new way of life. Some voices stood out more so than the rest, their names became etched in our history books their thoughts and beliefs paving the way for the Revolution. One such colonist is James Otis wrote a series of patriotic pamphlets outlining his views on the colonies state of affairs , one of those pamphlets is The Rights of British Colonies Asserted and Proved written in 1763. In The Rights of British Colonies Asserted and Proved James Otis outlines his perspectives on government 's rights and the rights of the people , these perspectives revolutionized colonial opinions and made famous the quote” no taxation without representation.”

Great Britain and Parliament passed a variety of laws and did many things to cause the American Colonists’ want to revolt and fight for independence. Things definitely went from bad to worse when the British decided to heavily tax the Colonists’ daily used items, such as tea and stamps. British rule forced them to house, clothe, and feed British soldiers, without any Parliamentary representation. These actions ultimately led to the desire and need for independence, because the Colonists could no longer tolerate being under Britain’s rule. There were many things England did to turn the American Colonists away from the crown.

Under the tyranny of Great Britain the colonist faced many hardships placed onto them by the parliament. Unconstitutional taxes were implemented for no reason other than to increase Britain’s revenue. In addition laws that disregarded man's’ natural rights were enforced by Britain onto the colonists. And because of these reasons the American colonist were justified for separating from Great Britain by declaring independence.

“Liberty may be endangered by the abuse of liberty, but also by the abuse of power” (Madison, Federalist Paper No. 63). After the Colonists gained their freedom from Great Britain, delegates from the colonies gathered and drafted the first written body of law for the United States, the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation had many flaws, like not instituting an Executive branch to enforce laws and not allowing Congress to tax Americans. It created a weak central government . Realizing this, fifty five delegates representing twelve out of thirteen states, met up in Philadelphia in May of 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation. Too many disagreements upon revising this document led the delegates to draft a brand new document, the United States Constitution. The constitution was made to divide power equally among the states’ and central government, while also giving the people power and preserving their rights. The United States’ Constitution, thus, . The constitution prevented the United States from being ruled by tyrants and/or corrupt leaders because it adapted the concept of federalism, created a separation of powers among the branches of government, applied a checks-and-balances system to the branches of its government, and compromised the needs of big states and small states.

Enlightenment ideas helped the Americans fight against British rule and create a new nation. With the fight for their new nation came the Declaration of Independence. This document is based on the beliefs of John Locke. John’s teachings mostly focused on self-government and natural rights. John Locke Believed that everyone was created equal with the same three natural rights. The Declaration of Independence argued for natural rights and equality as well. The Declaration of Independence was influenced by Locke’s idea of Equal rights and self-government. They liked the idea of a Democracy, the rule of the people. The United States’ Declaration of Independence states. The American colonist separated from Britain because King George 3rd was not governing the people correctly. For example, he created “Taxation without Representation”. Taxation without Representation is when the American Colonist were being taxed unfairly. John Locke believed the government was there to protect the people, and if they were not being protected they have the right to rebel against the ruler. This is exactly what the American colonist did. The document by the colonies declaring separation from Britain, stated. John Locke’s beliefs of self-government influenced the colonies to rebel and become it’s own

The Declaration of Independence makes historical claims regarding the royal crowns unjust control over the American colonies. In the Declaration, Jefferson states that the British government unfairly cut off the colonies trade to different parts of the world and also taxed them without their consent. By disallowing the colonies to trade with other parts of the world they have no way of attaining resources or making profit on their own resources. Without trade there is no income of money and therefore the colonies and their people would suffer drastically. The colonies have a right to revolt because without trade they would, in time, collapse. Similar to controlling trade, controlling taxes without consent is unjust and could lead to financial

Thomas Jefferson had strong views on independence. As a farmer in the ‘wilderness’ of Virginia, he knew that people could govern themselves. Jefferson wrote opinions on the colonists’ struggles against Great Britain. Jefferson said that the colonists were a free people claiming their rights. People outside of Virginia read his opinions. Many agreed with Jefferson. They also recognized his skills as a writer and thinker. Before the Revolutionary War, the colonies had no central government that met in America. State governments were just being set up. But the state governments reacted to Great Britain’s harsh taxes and rules. They sent delegates to Philadelphia to meet and discuss the problems. The delegates called themselves the First Continental Congress.

Throughout the 18th century, a growing tension between Great Britain and their colonies in North America dominated the political arena of both nations. The growing tension, caused by increased taxes on sugar, tea, and other goods sold to the colonists without fair representation in British Parliament, eventually led to one of the most historically influential breaking points in modern times. In 1776, the representation of the Colonists discussed human rights, gathered their accusations of King George III into one document written by Thomas Jefferson. The document that proclaimed the rights of the people and the crimes of the King was titled the Declaration of Independence and it has become one of the most influential documents on various movements,

Like most momentous declaration documents in the history of governments, the American Declarations of Independence is a document that represents a specific historical era. The universal human right concept occupies over 20% of the document while the rest of document details the alleged atrocities that the colonial government had committed. The list of the grievances is long. This paper looks at the most critical points in the declaration and those that the writer does not think as very important.

The Declaration of Independence, written in 1776, was a call to the thirteen colonies to severe their political connections to Great Britain and form a new government. The document summarized a list of grievances about how the colonies had been oppressed and wronged under British rule and provided its motivations for seeking independence. For example, statements like, “He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesale and necessary for public good;” “For imposing taxes on us without our consent;” demonstrated some of the rationale for breaking away from Great Britain.

Ten years later, Parliament passed the English Bill of Rights which separated and limited power of the government while including many rights that protected citizens. The evolution of British documents and rights, when combined, created the rights of Englishmen. The rights of Englishmen are precedents of common law and many documents such as the Magna Carta and Charter of Liberties previously mentioned. Although the English government had enacted several measures protecting individual rights between the 13th and 17th centuries, the English monarch still overstepped its powers. Examples of this would be: excessive taxes on British goods, taxation without representation, and quartering or presence of soldiers in peacetime. Due to events like the Boston Massacre and the Intolerable Act, the colonies felt as if the British Government had stepped too far. These acts lead to rebellion from the colonists and eventually the creation of the Declaration of Independence that explained the overreach of the British government, allowed the establishment of rights, and a basis for an adequate