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9/23/12
1
Do Now 1. What does the Declaration of
Independence mean to you? 2. What do you think of when you see,
hear, or talk about it?
Do the colony’s reasons for separation from England justify
the Declaration of Independence?
What is government? • Authority or power that rules on behalf of a
group of people • Do we as citizens have power?
– Vote – Local Government
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Where did this idea begin? • Force Theory – One person or group claimed control
and forced others to submit to their power • Evolutionary – developed naturally from early families • Divine Right – 15th to 18th century – Obey the ruler as you would obey God
Social Contract • Nothing protected
anyone from another’s violent actions
• Humans agreed to give up certain freedoms to insure the well-being of all
• Example – US Constitution
Early Enlightenment Thinkers
Hobbes Locke Rosseau Montesquieu
• Lived in England mid 17th century • State of Nature • Humans exchanged a contract with a ruler to keep order • people gave up the right to rebel against the absolute rule of the monarch
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Early Enlightenment Thinkers Hobbes Locke Rosseau Montesquieu
• Lived in England mid 17th century • State of Nature Humans exchanged a contract with a ruler to keep order – people gave up the right to rebel against the absolute rule of the monarch
• Lived in England late 17th century • Natural Rights Born free and equal
• Had right to life, liberty, ownership of property • Govt. existed to protect those rights • People could rebel
Early Enlightenment Thinkers Hobbes Locke Rosseau Montesquieu
• Lived in England mid 17th century • State of Nature Humans exchanged a contract with a ruler to keep order – people gave up the right to rebel against the absolute rule of the monarch
• Lived in England late 17th century • Natural Rights Born free and equal
Had right to life, liberty, ownership of property Govt. existed to protect those rights People could rebel
• Faith in common people • Human nature was basically good
• Wrote book called The Social Contract • People give up certain freedoms for good of the group • Decisions of the majority will apply
Early Enlightenment Thinkers Hobbes Locke Rosseau Montesquieu
• Lived in England mid 17th century • State of Nature Humans exchanged a contract with a ruler to keep order – people gave up the right to rebel against the absolute rule of the monarch
• Lived in England late 17th century • Natural Rights Born free and equal Had right to life, liberty, ownership of property Govt. existed to protect those rights People could rebel
• Faith in common people • Human nature was basically good • Wrote book called The Social Contract • People give up certain freedoms for good of the group • Decisions of the majority will apply
• Mid 17th Century • Abuse of liberty occurred when power was concentrated in the hands of a single person or group • Power should be distributed among three branches Legislative – Executive – Judicial • Idea of checks and balances
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Common Sense
• 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in Jan. 1776
• 500,000 copies sold within a year • Convinced people to support a complete break
with Britain
Declaration of Independence
• Committee members – Thomas Jefferson – Lawyer
and Planter – Roger Sherman – Judge – Robert Livingston – Lawyer – Benjamin Franklin – Self
made man
• Chose Jefferson to draft the statement
Jefferson’s Political Ideas • Influenced by the Enlightenment • Drew on ideas from earlier political thinkers • John Locke was key in his thinking • Inalienable rights
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Declaration of Independence Preamble
• Jefferson explained the purpose of the declaration
Declaration of Rights
• Explained the political ideas • Relied heavily on John Locke’s writings • Emphasized natural rights • Wrote of inalienable rights – rights that could
not be taken away • Government’s role was to protect those natural
rights • If they didn’t the people had a right to replace
the government
List of Complaints • Long list of wrongs inflicted on the colonists • All wrongs were committed by King George III • Jefferson wrote that George’s objective was
absolute tyranny
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Lists of Grievances
• He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
List of Grievances • He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing
Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. • For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the
world: • For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent • For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of
Trial by Jury • For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring
themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
• He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
Conclusion or Declaration
• Resolution of independence by the United States
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Do the colony’s reasons for separation from England justify
the Declaration of Independence?