LAD #3: Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence

1. The main principles of the Declaration of Independence are staples of democracy. Most notably seen, the notion that all men are created equal and have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and the task of protecting these rights goes to the government. Furthermore, it is the right of the citizens to abolish a failing regime in order to keep a strong government and put more power in the hands of the people.

2. The Declaration was also used by the colonists to list their many grievances in regards to their treatment by the British. They complained about the infamous "taxation without representation" that helped spark the revolution, and listed other offenses such as the British quartering troops without warning in colonial houses, and that in general the British were trying to destroy the colonial way of life.

3. The conclusion of the Declaration ties it all together, and it is here that the Americans declare that they will break apart from the mother country England and become "free and independent states." They declared that they would now have the same rights as all independent countries in that they could form alliances, declare war, establish commerce, etc. They were truly becoming the United States of America.