Why did they write the Declaration of Independence?

In 1775, colonists in North America felt that they were overtaxed and needed to fight for their rights as subjects of the British Crown. The first armed conflict between colonists and British soldiers was in April that year. At first, many believed that Parliament would listen to their grievances and that their differences could be resolved. In October 1775, King George III ordered that more units of the British Navy and Army should be sent to the colonies.

In January 1776, the colonists learned about the King’s decision to send more troops. Thomas Paine wrote “Common Sense” in response to this news and the discussion of whether the colonies should fight for their independence from Britain intensified. On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced a resolution calling for independence to the Second Continental Congress. On July 2, 1776, representatives from 12 of the 13 colonies accepted the Lee resolution. The colony of New York abstained from the vote. Five men were appointed to a committee to draft the Declaration of Independence, but Thomas Jefferson of Virginia was the primary writer.

The Declaration of Independence features five distinct parts. The introduction gives the reasons why it was necessary to seek independence. The Preamble states the principles that everyone believed were inalienable rights. (The Preamble also has become the most quoted part of the Declaration.)

Next Jefferson listed the grievances that the colonists had against the King. Jefferson then discussed that the colonists had unsuccessfully tried to appeal the laws and taxes that the King had imposed on the colonies.

The conclusion stated that there was a dissolution of any political connection between the states and Britain. This formal Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.

The Declaration of Independence served three primary purposes. (1.) The document was meant to tell the colonists that they needed to unite to fight for their rights. (2.) It also listed why their actions were justified and (3.) gave formal notice to the King. By asserting that the United States was a separate country, it was hoped that foreign countries would recognize the sovereignty of the United States and assist in their fight for Freedom.

The Constitution did not become effective until 1789 and its first words are “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union.”

During July, we celebrate our freedom as we continue to work to form a more perfect union with liberty and justice for all.

Editor’s FYI / “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.” The phrase “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” includes three words often considered the most memorable in the Declaration of Independence. But did you know that often-quoted line originally ended with “the pursuit of property”?

As the story goes, the word “property” was favored by George Mason, a Virginia patriot during the American Revolution whose concept of inalienable rights influenced penning the Bill of Rights. Ultimately, Thomas Jefferson, with support of Benjamin Franklin, changed the wording to “happiness” to broaden its interpretation. —PN

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The Declaration of Independence, the founding document of the United States, was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain. It explained why the Congress on July 2 “unanimously” (by the votes of 12 colonies, with New York abstaining) had resolved that “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be Free and Independent States.”

On August 2, 1776, roughly a month after the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, an “engrossed” version was signed at the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) in Philadelphia by most of the congressional delegates (engrossing is rendering an official document in a large clear hand). Not all the delegates were present on August 2. Eventually, 56 of them signed the document. Two delegates, John Dickinson and Robert R. Livingston, never signed.

In the 1920s the Declaration of Independence was enclosed in a frame of gold-plated bronze doors and covered with double-paned plate glass with gelatin films between the plates to block harmful light rays. Today it is held in an upright case constructed of ballistically tested glass and plastic laminate. A $3 million camera and computerized system monitor the condition of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights.

John Trumbull: Declaration of Independence

Declaration of Independence, in U.S. history, document that was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and that announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain. It explained why the Congress on July 2 “unanimously” by the votes of 12 colonies (with New York abstaining) had resolved that “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be Free and Independent States.” Accordingly, the day on which final separation was officially voted was July 2, although the 4th, the day on which the Declaration of Independence was adopted, has always been celebrated in the United States as the great national holiday—the Fourth of July, or Independence Day.

On April 19, 1775, when the Battles of Lexington and Concord initiated armed conflict between Britain and the 13 colonies (the nucleus of the future United States), the Americans claimed that they sought only their rights within the British Empire. At that time few of the colonists consciously desired to separate from Britain. As the American Revolution proceeded during 1775–76 and Britain undertook to assert its sovereignty by means of large armed forces, making only a gesture toward conciliation, the majority of Americans increasingly came to believe that they must secure their rights outside the empire. The losses and restrictions that came from the war greatly widened the breach between the colonies and the mother country; moreover, it was necessary to assert independence in order to secure as much French aid as possible.

Richard Henry Lee

On April 12, 1776, the revolutionary convention of North Carolina specifically authorized its delegates in the Congress to vote for independence. On May 15 the Virginia convention instructed its deputies to offer the motion—“that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States”—which was brought forward in the Congress by Richard Henry Lee on June 7. John Adams of Massachusetts seconded the motion. By that time the Congress had already taken long steps toward severing ties with Britain. It had denied Parliamentary sovereignty over the colonies as early as December 6, 1775, and on May 10, 1776, it had advised the colonies to establish governments of their own choice and declared it to be “absolutely irreconcilable to reason and good conscience for the people of these colonies now to take the oaths and affirmations necessary for the support of any government under the crown of Great Britain,” whose authority ought to be “totally suppressed” and taken over by the people—a determination which, as Adams said, inevitably involved a struggle for absolute independence.

The passage of Lee’s resolution was delayed for several reasons. Some of the delegates had not yet received authorization to vote for separation; a few were opposed to taking the final step; and several men, among them John Dickinson, believed that the formation of a central government, together with attempts to secure foreign aid, should precede it. However, a committee consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston was promptly chosen on June 11 to prepare a statement justifying the decision to assert independence, should it be taken. The document was prepared, and on July 1 nine delegations voted for separation, despite warm opposition on the part of Dickinson. On the following day at the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) in Philadelphia, with the New York delegation abstaining only because it lacked permission to act, the Lee resolution was voted on and endorsed. (The convention of New York gave its consent on July 9, and the New York delegates voted affirmatively on July 15.) On July 19 the Congress ordered the document to be engrossed as “The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America.” It was accordingly put on parchment, probably by Timothy Matlack of Philadelphia. Members of the Congress present on August 2 affixed their signatures to this parchment copy on that day and others later.

The signers were as follows: John Hancock (president), Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts; Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton of Georgia; William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, and John Penn of North Carolina; Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., and Arthur Middleton of South Carolina; Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, and Charles Carroll of Maryland; George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, and Carter Braxton of Virginia; Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, and George Ross of Pennsylvania; Caesar Rodney and George Read of Delaware; William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, and Lewis Morris of New York; Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, and Abraham Clark of New Jersey; Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, and Matthew Thornton of New Hampshire; Stephen Hopkins and William Ellery of Rhode Island; and Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, and Oliver Wolcott of Connecticut. The last signer was Thomas McKean of Delaware, whose name was not placed on the document before 1777.

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