1. The Declaration of Independence has many democratic principles within it, most notably the given unalienable rights which includes life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Declaration is based of everything that will benefit the people and exists to solely benefit them. The idea that the Declaration was created for the people, by the people is one of the most important democratic principles it is made up of.
2. Along with the democratic principles that were included in the Declaration, there were many grievances, much having to do with Britain, and it's king, that were existent in the document. One grievance was that King George III never passed a law that truly was beneficial to the just the people. Each law always had to benefit him in some way and he did not care if the law benefitted the people or not. Another grievance was the continous creation of new laws and taxes which required the colonists to always pay money to Britain. He did this all without giving them any representation. Additionally, he required the right to British soldiers that allowed them to live in the houses of the colonists, even in times of peace. Lastly, King George III frequently dissolved of representatives that did not side with him while also having a standing army present in the colonies, even in times of peace.
3. In the conclusion, the colonists stated that any sort of connection with them and Britain has now been dissolved and that they are now "fully free independent states." They also make known that they are willing to fight if Britain questions these principles, as they "mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
No comments:
Post a Comment