Writers of the Revolution

The Declaration of Independence

Public Document by Thomas Jefferson

notable quote practiced successfully before entering

“All eyes are opened, politics at age 26. As a member of the
or opening, to the rights colonial Virginia legislature, he fell in with
of men.” a group of radicals, among them Patrick
fyi Henry. Lacking Henry’s oratorical gifts,
Did you know that Thomas Jefferson distinguished himself by his legal
Jefferson . . . writing. Significantly, Jefferson’s indelible
• played the violin? mark on American life came largely from
• was an amateur the many legal documents and laws he
inventor? wrote promoting democracy.
• developed the policy of Passion for Learning Jefferson had an
the separation of church insatiable curiosity about the world and
and state?
often indulged in what he called his
• favored the rights of the “canine appetite for reading.” In addition
states over the federal
government?
Thomas Jefferson to devouring works on the classics, history,
1743–1826 law, science, and philosophy, he taught
• died on July 4, the
himself architecture from books. He
same day as his friend
Thomas Jefferson was one of the most designed his elaborate estate at Monticello
and political rival, John
Adams?
accomplished founding fathers. Active and the buildings of the University of
in the cause for independence, he Virginia, which he also founded as the
was governor of Virginia during the embodiment of his principles of education
Revolutionary War and U.S. minister and individual freedom.
For more on Thomas to France afterward. He also served the
Jefferson, visit the The Issue of Slavery Charges of hypocrisy
new country as the first secretary of state,
Literature Center at on the issue of slavery have tarnished
ClassZone.com. the second vice-president, and the third
president. As president, he acquired Jefferson’s image as the “apostle of liberty.”
the vast Louisiana Territory west of the In his early writings, he denounced slavery
Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, and tried unsuccessfully to include the
essentially doubling the size of the country. issue in the Declaration. Yet Jefferson
But more important than any political always owned slaves—as many as 600 over
office he held was the lasting impact the course of his lifetime—and in later
Jefferson’s home at of Jefferson’s ideals of liberty and self- years, he remained undecided on this issue.
Monticello
government so eloquently expressed in the A Quintessential American Jefferson’s
Declaration of Independence. problematic stand on slavery mirrored the
Brilliant Legal Mind The son of a surveyor
nation’s, which took a long time to rectify.
and gentleman farmer, Jefferson was born In the end, Jefferson was a man of his time
into a life of privilege in rural Virginia. who had a noble vision for the country
Educated at the College of William and and the genius to articulate it, even though
Mary, he was tutored in the law and he did not always live up to his ideals.

234
literary analysis: argument Explore the Key Idea
Jefferson’s emphasis in the Declaration of Independence was
on the logical argument to be made for independence. An
argument expresses an opinion on an issue and supports it with
When is rebellion
reasons and evidence. Three important parts of an argument are justified?
• the claim: the writer’s position on an issue or problem KEY IDEA Many young people harbor
• support: reasons and evidence provided to prove a claim a spirit of rebellion—against parents,
• counterargument: arguments to answer opposing views teachers, bosses, rules, or any situation
that “just isn’t fair!” But how often do
As you read, look for these elements of an argument.
you attempt to explain your rebellion
logically? In June of 1776, Thomas Jefferson
reading skill: analyze text structure and other colonial leaders had decided to
The Declaration of Independence has four main parts: rebel against British rule. But they needed
1. a preamble, or foreword, that announces the reason for to justify their dangerous action—to
the document themselves, to the king, and to the world.
2. a declaration of people’s natural rights and relationship DISCUSS In a small group, think of several
to government situations in which an individual or a group
3. a long list of complaints against George III, the British king rebelled against a perceived injustice. The
situations could be any of the following:
4. a conclusion that formally states America’s independence
• local—an incident in your school or
As you read, use a chart such as the one shown to indicate the
community, for example
line numbers for each part, as well as a brief summary of each.
• global—such as demonstrations against
Part Summary global trade policies
1 Preamble When one group of people have to form their own • historical—such as the American, French,
lines 1–6 government, it is necessary to explain why. or Russian revolutions
Then, as a group, evaluate the reasons for
each rebellion and explain which ones you
vocabulary in context think are justified.
Match each vocabulary word in the first column with the word
or phrase in the second column that is closest in meaning.
1. abdicate a. correction
2. arbitrary b. integrity
3. despotism c. treachery
4. impel d. abandon
5. mercenary e. drive
6. perfidy f. erratic
7. rectitude g. a taking over
8. redress h. hired soldier
9. unalienable i. tyranny
10. usurpation j. unchangeable
 The
Declaration
of
Independence
T homa s Jeffers on

background In September 1774, 56 delegates met in Philadelphia at the First ANALYZE VISUALS
Continental Congress to draw up a declaration of colonial rights. They agreed to This is an original copy
reconvene in May 1775 if their demands weren’t met. At this Second Continental of the Declaration. What
Congress, Thomas Jefferson joined Benjamin Franklin and John Adams on the might be some of the
committee to draft the Declaration of Independence. The task of writing it fell advantages of having
to Jefferson. Although Congress made many changes to the list of grievances, the whole document
Jefferson’s declaration of rights remained untouched—an abiding testament to appear on one large
“self-evident” truths for the nation and the world. sheet of paper?

In Congress, July 4, 1776

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
impel (Gm-pDlP) v. to drive
the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the forward; force
opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel
them to the separation. a a ARGUMENT
We hold these truths to be self-evident:—That all men are created equal; What claim does Jefferson
present in the preamble
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that
of the Declaration and
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these what support does he say
10 rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from he will provide?
the consent of the governed; 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 unalienable
(On-AlPyE-nE-bEl) adj.
to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and not to be taken away
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect (Today the usual form
their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long is inalienable.)
established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly,

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 all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils
are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they
are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing usurpation
20 invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute (yLQsEr-pAPshEn) n. the
act of wrongfully taking
despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to over a right or power that
provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance belongs to someone else
of these colonies; and such is now the necessity that constrains them to alter their
former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain1 despotism (dDsPpE-tGzQEm)
is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having, in direct object, the n. government by a ruler
with unlimited power
establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be
submitted to a candid world. b b ARGUMENT
He has refused his assent to laws 2 the most wholesome and necessary for the What counterargument
public good. c does Jefferson anticipate
in lines 15–22? What
30 He has forbidden his Governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing
claim does he make at the
importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; end of this paragraph and
and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. what does he say he is
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of about to do?
people, unless these people would relinquish the right of representation in the
c TEXT STRUCTURE
legislature—a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. Why might the list of
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, complaints make up the
and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of largest part of the four-
fatiguing them into compliance with his measure. part structure?
He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with manly
40 firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to cause others to be
elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned
to the people at large for their exercise; the State remaining, in the meantime,
exposed to all dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population3 of these States; for that purpose
obstructing the laws for the naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to
encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations
of lands.
He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws
50 for establishing judiciary powers.
He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices,4
and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to
harass our people and eat out their substance.5

1. the present King of Great Britain: George III, who reigned from 1760 to 1820.
2. refused his assent to laws: Laws passed in the colonies needed the king’s approval; sometimes it took
years for laws to be approved or rejected.
3. to prevent the population: to keep the population from growing.
4. the tenure of their offices: their job security.
5. eat out their substance: use up their resources.

238 unit 1: early american writing

 Declaration of Independence in Congress, at the Independence Hall, Philadelphia, July 4, 1776 (1819), John Trumbull. Oil on canvas. The Granger
Collection, New York.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent
of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to, the civil
power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our
60 constitutions,6 and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of
pretended legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us;
For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which
they should commit on the inhabitants of these States;
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world;
For imposing taxes on us without our consent;
For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury;
For transporting us beyond the seas, to be tried for pretended offenses; arbitrary (ärPbG-trDrQC) adj.
For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province,7 based on unpredictable
70 establishing there an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to decisions rather than law
render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute
rule into these colonies;
d TEXT STRUCTURE
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering,
Reread lines 59–76. What
fundamentally, the forms of our governments; is the significance of the
For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with itemized list of examples
power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. d in lines 62–76?

6. subject us . . . our constitutions: Parliament had passed the Declaratory Act in 1766, stating that the king
and Parliament could make laws for the colonies.
7. a neighboring province: the province of Quebec, which at the time extended south to the Ohio River and
west to the Mississippi.

the declaration of independence 239

 He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection, and abdicate (BbPdG-kAtQ) v. to
waging war against us. give up responsibility for
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns,8 and destroyed
80 the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete mercenary (mûrPsE-nDrQC)
the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances n. a professional soldier
hired to fight in a foreign
of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally
army
unworthy the head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to perfidy (pûrPfG-dC) n.
bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and treachery
brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He has excited domestic insurrection amongst us,9 and has endeavored to bring
on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule redress (rG-drDsP) n. the
90 of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. correction of a wrong;
In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress, in the most compensation
humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.
e GRAMMAR AND STYLE
A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is
Reread lines 98–101.
unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Notice how Jefferson uses
Nor have we been wanting in our attentions to our British brethren. We have a compound-complex
warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their legislature to extend an sentence, which has two
unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances or more independent
clauses and one or more
of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice subordinate clauses,
and magnanimity; and we have conjured them, by the ties of our common in order to show the
100 kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our complex relationships
connections and correspondence. e between ideas.
They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity.10 We
must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation; and
hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends. f f ARGUMENT
We, Therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, What objections does
Jefferson appear to be
in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for
anticipating and refuting
the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good with counterarguments in
people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these United Colonies lines 102–104?
are, and of right ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are absolved
110 from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between rectitude (rDkPtG-tLdQ) n.
morally correct behavior
them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that, or thinking
as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace,
contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which
independent states may of right do. And, for the support of this declaration, with g TEXT STRUCTURE
a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to What purpose does the
each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.  g final paragraph serve?

8. plundered . . . our towns: American seaports such as Norfolk, Virginia, had already been shelled.
9. excited . . . amongst us: George III had encouraged slaves to rise up and rebel against their masters.
10. deaf to . . . consanguinity: The British have ignored pleas based on their common ancestry with the
colonists.

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