“Declaring Independence”
Hoot Gibson, 6/3/2014
The Declaration of Independence is the first time the Colonies referred
to themselves officially as Free States. The newly proclaimed thirteen
States had united in cause and committed to being independent from
Britain. Written in the title of the Declaration is “…the thirteen
united States of America.” This new designation of ‘States’ and “United
States” carries forward to the title of the “Constitution of the United
States” and most all other subsequent documents.
The document can be broken into six parts, though the original document
appears to be one very long continuous paragraph. I recommend you read
the Declaration of Independence after reviewing this article. It may
give better insight to the structure and how the wording applies to
later development of the US Constitution. http://www.constitution.org/us_doi.pdf
PART
1, Title: This section provides the date of the declaration and is a
notice to the King that the decision to become independent was unanimous
in Congress. It also is the first reference to “…united States of
America.”
PART 2, Introduction: This portion proclaims the United States will separate from England.
PART
3, Declaration of Rights: This establishes that the United States is
equal to England and explains the reasons for independence. The first
sentence of this paragraph became much of the foundation and motivation
for inclusions in the US Constitution.
“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.”
-life: living without the constant fear of death by other than natural means
-liberty: living without oppressive restrictions imposed by authority or tyranny
-pursuit of happiness:
--pursuit; unrestricted by authority, the ability to follow or go after…
--happiness; a sense of confidence and quality of life, not to suffer due to
government
PART 4, Grievances: The Founding Fathers include a long list of injustices and reasons for declaring independence from England.
PART
5, Resolution of Independence: The last two paragraphs state to the
King that the United States of America will have its own powers to levy
war, conclude peace, contract alliances [foreign nations], establish
trade, and other acts as the United States…a separation nation.
PART
6, Signatures: There were 56 signers on the Declarations of
Independence. As stated in the last sentence of the Resolution portion,
each signer mutually pledged “…to each other our Lives, our Fortunes
and our sacred Honor.”
The Declaration of
Independence was approved by the Second Continental Congress on July 2,
but dated and declared publicly on July 4, 1776. Though Thomas
Jefferson is credited with writing the document; as a committee Thomas
Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert Livingston, and Roger
Sherman were all authors of the document.
SUMMARY
The revolution for independence had already begun. This document, in
essence, declared that the now United States is no longer a part of
England and war will continue. During the Second Continental Congress,
Benjamin Franklin made this statement regarding unity of the States and
People, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang
separately.” Benjamin Franklin was the eldest signer of the Declaration
of Independence and later a delegate to the Constitutional Convention
in 1787, developing the US Constitution.
The
Colonies are no longer colonies; they are now the United States of
America. The Colonists are no longer colonists; they are now Americans.
©Hoot Gibson, 2014 - 2019
Hoot is a retired USAF Master Sergeant.
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