The Declaration of Independence: "An Expression of the American Mind"

The events that led up to declaring independence in July of 1776 have been written about and analyzed extensively. Below are some useful links that provide background and excellent overviews of the evolution toward and arguments for the Declaration of Independence.

In addition to the above video produced by the Oxford Observer on social contract theory, turn to the Teacher's Guide on EDSITEment-reviewed PBS Liberty for more on the key themes of natural rights, the social contract, the right to revolution, popular sovereignty, and the right of self-determination in the Declaration. You can also search for background materials at the entry on John Locke on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, an EDSITEment-reviewed website, especially noting the sections on:

• The Social Contract Theory
• Function of Civil Government

For an understanding of how the Declaration of Independence should be viewed not in isolation but as the culmination of over 90 local declarations of Independence, see Pauline Maier's interview "What Was the Declaration of Independence?" on the Online Newshour, a link on the Internet Public Library. Maier is the author of American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence (New York, 1997).

For more information, see the following EDSITEment-reviewed resources:

• The History Channel video provides a quick look at who was present and their motives for wanting to declare independence from King George III. 
• For a brief chronology of the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, see "Declaring Independence, Drafting the Documents," via American Memory from the Library of Congress.
• For essays and other resources illuminating the bases of the Declaration and the causes of the Revolution, see "The Road to Revolution" from The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
• For a brief overview of the specific stages through which the writing of the Declaration passed, see "The Declaration of Independence: A History," available via the National Archives.
• See an EDSITEment lesson on the Declaration of Independence for younger students.

NCSS.D2.His.3.3-5. Generate questions about individuals and groups who have shaped significant historical changes and continuities.

NCSS.D2.His.4.3-5. Explain why individuals and groups during the same historical period differed in their perspectives.

NCSS.D2. His.5.3-5. Explain connections among historical contexts and people’s perspectives at the time.

NCSS.D2.His.6.3-5. Describe how people’s perspectives shaped the historical sources they created.

NCSS.D1.1.9-12. Explain how a question reflects an enduring issue in the field.

NCSS.D2.Civ.3.9-12. Analyze the impact of constitutions, laws, treaties, and international agreements on the maintenance of national and international order.

NCSS.D2.Civ.4.9-12. Explain how the U.S. Constitution establishes a system of government that has powers, responsibilities, and limits that have changed over time and that are still contested.

NCSS.D2.Civ.5.9-12. Evaluate citizens’ and institutions’ effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.

NCSS.D3.1.9-12. Gather relevant information from multiple sources representing a wide range of views while using the origin, authority, structure, context, and corroborative value of the sources to guide the selection.

Activity 1

• The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, from The Avalon Project at Yale Law School
• Was the Revolution Justified? from Digital History

Activity 2

• John Locke's Second Treatise on Government, Section 225, 1690, from The Constitution Society via Internet Public Library.
• Massachusetts Slave Petition, May 25, 1774, from Founder's Constitution, a link on Learner.org.
• Malden Massachusetts Statement of Independence, May 27, 1776, from Teaching American History.
• George Mason and the Virginia Declaration of Rights, June 12, 1776, from Digital History. Print out or make a Declaration of Independence Comparison Chart.

Activity 1. The Declaration's Origins: Four (4) Primary Sources for Understanding the Declaration of Independence

Much of the language and many of the ideas in the Declaration can be found in other documents, to which Jefferson and the other writers had access. In this activity, students will be able to see these influences and understand the evolution of ideas over time that culminated in the Declaration. (At this point, the teacher may want to show students the Maier interview or explain her view of the ideological underpinnings of the Declaration.)

• Either working individually or in small groups, students will receive a copy the Declaration of Independence (to be annotated), copies of these four documents, and a chart to record information.
• As students read each of the four documents, they will search for the portion of the Declaration that was influenced by the document's text. They will compare the Declaration's ideas with these other documents. Students should analyze the extent of the connection and influence of the ideas in their document to the wording in specific sections of the Declaration.
• In addition, they will fill in the accompanying chart to document the accumulation of ideas leading to the Declaration.
• After the students have finished, the teacher should project a copy of the student-annotated Declaration(s) to enable the students to see the extent to which the ideas in the final document came from these earlier ones. The students can engage in a discussion about the extent of the influences and the reasons for those connections of ideas.

1. John Locke's Second Treatise on Government, Section 225, 1690, from The Constitution Society, a link on the EDSITEment-reviewed Internet Public Library. In this excerpt, Locke explains under what circumstances the people have the right to alter their form of government.
2. Massachusetts Slave Petition, May 27, 1774, from Founder's Constitution, a link on Learner.org. In this slave petition to the governing bodies of Massachusetts, the natural rights argument is made boldly by a people denied all rights at that time. (Students should focus on arguments at the beginning and end of the petition.)
3. Malden Massachusetts Statement of Independence, May 27, 1776, from the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Teaching American History. In this document, the citizens of the town of Malden express their concerns to their representative at the Continental Congress about the actions of the British and why a declaration in favor of independence was necessary and appropriate at that time. (Students will find the specific grievances in paragraphs three and four that connect to the Declaration's grievances. Students should pay close attention to the concluding two paragraphs of the Statement of Independence. Is the language stronger or weaker than that in the conclusion of the Declaration?)
4. George Mason and the Virginia Declaration of Rights, June 12, 1776, from Colonial Williamsburg, a link on the EDSITEment-reviewed site Digital History. This document, urging Virginia's delegates to support such an action, was passed a little more than three weeks before the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress. (Students should focus on the first three clauses of this Declaration of Rights to see how it resembles the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence: excerpt in separate PDF.)

Activity 2. The Declaration's Key Ideas

Students will read and explain the structure of the Declaration: introduction, main political and philosophical ideas, the grievances, and the assertion of sovereignty.

• Give each student a copy of the Declaration of Independence from the EDSITEment-reviewed Avalon Project.
• As a whole-class exercise, do a guided reading of the introduction to the Declaration of Independence, with the teacher modeling how to decipher language and "explain" its meaning and significance, i.e. what is the main idea in this first part, why is it here, and WHY is it important? Teacher Annotation in a separate PDF.
• Then, the students will read the next section (starting with "We hold these truths …), which contains references to natural rights, the social contract, and the right to revolution. The teacher should lead a brief discussion of these three concepts to ensure that students understand their meaning. The students' task will be to identify and locate the three concepts in the text; then they will re-write them in their own words and explain how they relate to the struggle between the English and American colonists. They should also address how revolutionary were these ideas in two respects: how did they support the idea of revolution and, given the context of the times, why were these ideas unusual and new? Once students have identified these references, the teacher could then move the discussion into the direction of explaining what each one of these terms means in greater depth. See sample student annotation in separate PDF.
• Next, students will analyze the list of grievances. Each student should be assigned one grievance, which they will read and annotate, and then will report back to the class about what it is saying, how it relates to the struggle with England, and why it is significant to the whole document.
• The Charges by Type: [If time allows]: Divide the grievances by their type and have students analyze the similarities and differences in each group. Students should read their assigned grievances and write annotations that explain the particular problems in this section and what they show about the British-American relationship. The following categories might prove useful in setting up this exercise:
  • King's Abuse of Power: The first group, consisting of charges 1–12, refers to such abuses of the king's executive power as suspending colonial laws, dissolving colonial legislatures, obstructing the administration of justice, and maintaining a standing army during peacetime.
  • King and Parliament acting Together: The second group, consisting of charges 13–22, attacks the king for combining with "others" (Parliament) to subject America to a variety of unconstitutional measures, including taxing the colonists without consent, cutting off their trade with the rest of the world, curtailing their right to trial by jury, and altering their charters.
  • The King's War Crimes: The third set of charges, numbers 23–27, assails the king's violence and cruelty in waging war against his American subjects
  • As an alternative, other categories could be chosen such as economic interests, infringement of colonial self-government, and violation of individual rights
• Finally, students should identify phrases in which the Americans assert their rights to popular sovereignty and self-determination, and where they say what they will do to achieve them. The students should explain these ideas in their own words.

Activity 1.

Students will take on the role of a colonial newspaper editor, preparing an editorial for July 5th, the day after the contents of the Declaration have become public. They will write a pro-independence or anti-independence editorial, depending on the viewpoint of their newspaper, explaining the main ideas of the Declaration, its ideological antecedents, and their approval/disapproval.

Activity 2. 

Students should take on the role of a textbook editor and write a section about the background influences on the Declaration. They will write short paragraphs, explaining the key sections of the Declaration along with its "predecessor," and will include information about who wrote the document and its impact on the Declaration. They will include a chart, similar to the one used in this activity.

Activity 3.

 Students take on the role of a citizen or government official in another country in the years following the creation of the Declaration (i.e. France, Haiti, etc.). Construct a newspaper editorial that draws upon specific clauses in the Declaration that are relevant to the circumstances of their country at the time.  

• Later Influences/Staying Power/Other Declarations: Just as the Declaration of Independence evolved from earlier writings, it has affected later demands for more freedom. In this extension, students can look at how the Declaration has been evoked on behalf of other groups in U.S. history.
  • Subsequent Declarations of Independence, selections in "All Men Are Created Equal": The Power Of An Idea by Bob Blythe.
• Lincoln and the Declaration: Students could analyze extent to which the Declaration influenced Lincoln's thinking and the writing of the Gettysburg Address.
• Writing and Revising the Declaration: Thomas Jefferson and Group Work: Students will be able to appreciate how much of a "team" effort the writing of the Declaration actually was. Although Jefferson gets the lion's share of historical credit, in fact, the final product was a group effort, including the initial input of the four other committee members—Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. In the final stage, members of the Continental Congress offered their suggestions, which were not entirely welcomed by Jefferson (The writing of the Declaration is an example for students of how teams work in the real world. A team is assigned the work, one person does the draft, gets feedback from others, and then they present to larger group and get feedback.)
  • Students "interview" Thomas Jefferson, about what it was like to have "his" document altered. The interview should show the major changes that were made. Students should try to determine how Jefferson would have felt about them
  • Students will compare two different versions of the Declaration of Independence: Jefferson's rough draft and the final version, which was edited by the Continental Congress.