Guest Post: Declaration of Independence Reminds Us of Revolt

Today we're publishing a guest post by a friend of mine, Ben Pease.

The Declaration of Independence, one of the most important documents in the history of the United States of America. Why was this document written by Jefferson and the founding fathers? Why were they declaring themselves to be independent of their parent nation, England? The Declaration explains the reason for this. The colonists were tired of the British government imposing unwanted taxes on them, without their representation. They were also angered by the British government taking away their charters, giving them unfair trials for pretend offences, and for quartering large bodies of armed troops in their houses.
 
I believe that Jefferson and the other founding fathers decided that the American people didn’t need any more unfair and downright mean treatment from the British government. After much discussion they decided to take matters of government into their own hands, and to separate from their mother country. They believed that “…all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…” and that under British rule, they did not have these rights.
 
Some phrases and ideas that jump out at me when I read the Declaration are as follows.
 
“…Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that 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…” (Declaration of Independence, Paragraph 2, Line 5-9)

This section sticks out to me the most, as it is giving the American people the right to alter or abolish the government if it becomes too powerful and takes away their rights.

“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness…” (Declaration of Independence, Paragraph 2, Line 1-4)

This passage is another one of my favorites because it talks about some of our basic rights, which the founding fathers held to be self-evident.

If I were given the task of writing the Declaration, I honestly wouldn’t know where to start. I would be sure to include something about why we were separating from Great Britain, and talk about similar things as is discussed in the Declaration that the founding fathers wrote, but I would not be able to write one of the same caliber.

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