Background information for the teacher (step 1):

Depending on your course curriculum, students may only have a middle school understanding of the Declaration of Independence. Therefore, it is advised to check for understanding, inform students, provide clarification and debunk common myths before you begin the lesson.

Declaration of Independence Background

The Declaration of Independence is a work of more than just one man (Thomas Jefferson) and it is not the first Declaration of Independence, many colonies and communities adopted their own declarations of Independence between April and July of 1776 and many became the preambles to newly drafted state constitutions. It was a rapid transition for American colonists to go from being proud British citizens to proclaiming independence. American colonists believed themselves to be equal to citizens living in Britain and they were proud of British freedoms that existed. However, when direct taxes were imposed on American colonists and trade laws were more tightly enforced after the French and Indian War, American colonists found these actions to be unconstitutional because they did not have direct representation in the British Parliament. From there, a fight over what kind of representation colonists had and should have played out in public fashion back and forth across the Atlantic.

Colonial political and business leaders went through steps to petition the government for change but were met with disrespect and seemly harsh consequences. Intellectuals, religious leaders and writers in America progressively became more radical in their anger toward Parliament. The Second Continental Congress was still trying to make amends with the British Empire when is sent the Olive Branch Petition to King George III in July of 1775. In the petition, the Continental Congress insisted that they did not desire independence and a war could be avoided if the King used his powers intervene in the unconstitutional decisions of Parliament. However, the King refused to receive their petition and determined that the colonies did want independence. On June 11, 1776 a committee of five was nominated (Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston) to draft a national Declaration of Independence on behalf of Congress. On June 28, the committee presented its draft to all of Congress for comment and votes, but decisions were delayed while they assessed the oncoming British Naval attack. The Declaration blames the King in its grievances because by June of 1776, Congress had declared that British Parliament had no authority over them because the colonies had no direct representation; therefore, their last connection to the empire and the last person whom they had maintained loyalty to was the King. They argued that King George III was a tyrant following precedent in English history with former monarchs who were disavowed. Thomas Jefferson was the main drafter of the Declaration of Independence, but his words and ideas were inspired by a vast knowledge of British history, British common law, Enlightenment thinkers, Greek and Roman history and literature, works of Christianity and other Virginians, like George Mason. When Congress finally decided to review the draft, they had many changes and removed entire sections which Jefferson was very unhappy about, but many historians believe the public document that we know is more clear, correct and powerful.

Class discussion after background: What was the purpose of writing a national Declaration of Independence? Who was the intended audience?

Answers:

• Prove that there was no alternative to declaring independence
• Unification/motivation for colonies and people to fight
• To dissolve all political relationships between the British Empire and the 13 mainland American colonies
• Declare themselves a nation, not just rebels and which opened up the opportunity for them to write their own government
• Appeal to potential foreign allies

Does this information change the way you think about the document, why?

*For more reading on the Declaration of Independence, see America Scripture: Making of the Declaration of Independence by Pauline Maier.