
Only white men who owned property had the right to vote. But in 1776, people’s ideas were different. Today we know that the words “all men are created equal” include everyone: women, men, children, and every race, group, and ability. The Declaration is still important because it says the American people believe in equal rights for all.

The Declaration of Independence was approved on July 4, 1776. Jefferson showed that the colonists had a right to separate from the king and have their own government. He wrote, for example, that King George had tried to take away rights and force taxes on the colonies. Jefferson listed many ways that Britain had not served the colonists. Jefferson used ideas that John Locke and other English thinkers had written about. The Importance of the Independence: Jefferson wrote that if a government does not protect the rights of citizens, people have the right to form a new government. At the bottom of the document, the delegates signed their names.
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE SUMMARY FREE
It says that people have rights that cannot be taken away, lists the complaints against the king, and argues that the colonies have to be free to protect the colonists’ rights. The Declaration explains why the colonies should break away from Britain. Jefferson wrote that people have the right to live, the right to be free, and the right to seek happiness. In this document, Jefferson wrote what many Americans believed about their rights. They needed a summary document to declare why the colonies had to become independent of Britain. Summary of the Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776), explains:Ĭongress asked Thomas Jefferson and others to write a declaration of independence. Summary of the Declaration of Independence The preamble gives a profound introduction explaining the reason for declaring our independence.įirst Amendment (December 15, 1791), was added to the Constitution of the United States of America, along with nine other amendments, which together compose The Bill of Rights. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness … We, Therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions … And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor. When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people toĭissolve 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 the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitles them… We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. The Preamble of the Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776), states: Preamble of the Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776)

Religious expression by our people and our government. The very fact that our Founders held,Ĭhurch services in our nation’s Supreme Court offices, our Treasury office,Īnd the Rotunda of our Capitol proves that they expected complete freedom of They wanted free religiousĮxpression of their belief in God and the influence of God on our government,īut they did not want any one denomination to have preference over anotherĭenomination by government edict. Fact: By the 1st Amendment they were saying that they did not want God put into the box of a national denomination. Obviously did not intend any separation of their Faith in God from our

Which they did not use in any of our Founding Documents. Misconception of the fallacy of the term “separation of church and state” Such descriptive words to explain their faith in Him tears down the The very fact that our Forefathers emphasized their faith in God by using

Of our government in four different ways: The facts reflect that the Declaration of Independence are so unique in that it describes God and His supremacy in the founding (Bangor Daily News Photo by Kevin Bennett) Sanborn found the document in the back of a framed picture he picked from the trash 20 years ago. Facts about Declaration of Independence A detail of the signatures on a copy of the Declaration of Independence owned by Roger Sanborn of Greenbush is seen here on Friday, Dec.
