Declaration of Independence
Congress asked Thomas Jefferson and others to write a
declaration of independence. They needed a document to
declare why the colonies had to become independent of
Britain. In this document, Jefferson wrote what many
Americans believed about their rights. Jefferson wrote that
people have the right to live, the right to be free, and the
right to seek happiness. The Declaration explains why the
colonies should break away from Britain. 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. At the bottom of the
document, the delegates signed their names.
Importance of the Declaration
Jefferson wrote that if a government does not protect
the rights of citizens, people have the right to form a new
government. This idea was not new. Jefferson used ideas that
John Locke and other English thinkers had written about.
Jefferson listed many ways that Britain had not served the
colonists. He wrote, for example, that King George had tried
to take away rights and force taxes on the colonies. Jefferson
showed that the colonists had a right to separate from the
king and have their own government.
The Declaration of Independence was approved on
July 4, 1776. The Declaration is still important because it says
the American people believe in equal rights for all. Today
we know that the words “all men are created equal” include
everyone: women, men, children, and every race, group, and
ability. But in 1776, people’s ideas were different. Only white
men who owned property had the right to vote. Laws that
recognized equal rights of other groups were passed later.