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Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence was signed by the thirteen original colonies of the United States-New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia-on July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Written by the third president of the United States of America Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence enumerated the causes for the colonies' severance from Great Britain.

The members of the delegations believed that "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed" and "whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." 

The colonies had suffered a "long train of abuses and usurpations" by the King of Great Britain, ruling the colonies like an absolute Tyranny over the States. The Declaration of Independence enumerates those abuses and violations by the King of Great Britain. Those disagreements listed in the Declaration of Independence characterize a tyrant. "He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people", "He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance", "He has refused for a long time to cause others to be elected"; the King of Great Britain had acted upon the people without the people's consent and has created a barrier between him and the people so as to make him untouchable. The King made it sure that he has say in all that goes on, sometimes more than others.

The King of Great Britain had become the government of the colonies, by "suspending our [their] own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us [them] in all cases whatsoever." The King's head was not only poking into everyone's affairs in the colonies, he had also declared war upon them. He "plundered [their] seas, ravages [their] coasts burnt [their] towns, and destroyed the lives of [their] people." The King of Great Britain was also in the process of sending armies into the colonies for the people to submit to his rule.

The Declaration also declares Great Britain "Enemies in War" as they see it a necessity. It declares the colonies "Free and Independent States", and "Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved".

The State of California has found these documents to be of such importance to include them in a state-mandated course work as a requirement for a high school diploma because it is the foundation upon which the United States of America was built upon. With the declaration of independence from the British Crown, the free peoples of the thirteen original colonies gambled their lives in a war with the Crown. The Revolutionary War cost America many lives but, was a great victory for the new Free and Independent States. With the Declaration of Independence, the peoples of the thirteen original colonies was allowed to have "full power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do".

From the signing of this document, the thirteen states have expanded into fifty states and has allowed this nation to become the strongest (military, economic) country in the world today. The Declaration of Independence has created a nation that is against tyranny and for freedom. From World War II to today's war on terrorism, many of America's actions have been in favor of helping other nations to enjoy freedom as we have because we know first hand, that freedom can lead to the full potential of a country.

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