The Declaration of Independence

Azmat Rehman

AP US History

The Declaration of Independence

(1) The cause for issuing the Declaration of Independence was that the Continental Congress had become had become frustrated over Britain’s constant illegal force upon the colonists. They were mainly angry at the lack of progress shown towards resolving differences between the colonists and Great Britain. So, one of the main reasons the Declaration of Independence was written was to gain British recognition of colonial independence. Furthermore, it was a written as a formal declaration of separation and, just as importantly, to let the rest of the world know what the colonists were doing and why they were doing it.

(2) The advantages that the colonists could gain by announcing independence from Great Britain were that it gave colonists a "cause" for fighting. It raised the possibility of foreign aid from France, freedom from being under full control of the King, and the captured soldiers would be treated as prisoners of war rather than traitors.

(3) The factors that caused the colonies to proceed with great caution in view of a Declaration of Independence from Great Britain were that they were giving up the protection of the strongest nation in the world and trade advantages with Great Britain. Moreover, they had enjoyed decades of stable government being under the control of Great Britain while, there was no guarantee that the revolution would end with separation from England and not develop into a class structure war as well.

(4) According to Thomas Jefferson, the citizens of the country/the people have the right to create a government. According to Thomas Jefferson, the purpose of government is to enable the people of a nation to live in safety and happiness, while also protecting their rights. According to Thomas Jefferson people should abolish or overthrow that government which fails to fulfill it’s purpose.

(5) Thomas Jefferson’s major premise in the Declaration of Independence was that...