Blog #3 Declaration of Independence

Blog #3: Declaration of Independence







1.) List the Democratic Principles discussed in the opening.
The Declaration of Independence calls for a creation of a new government but with certain boundaries to ensure that their new government does not turn into a repeat of the much hated British Monarchy. Among these boundaries is the fact that the government should be an institution by the people and for the people that has full consent of the people living under said government. Furthermore, if this newly created government should turn out to be unjust and tyrannical then it is the right of the people to change it or completely disband it. All in all, these democratic principles demand that a government is created for the safety and happiness of the people in which it serves and can be overthrow if the government wavers from this declaration.

2.) List 5 Grievances the colonists were making the King aware of.
One of the grievances the colonists called out against the king was "for imposing taxes on us without our consent". The grievance was one of the driving factors of what brought the colonists to rebel in the first place. The heavy taxes that the British imposed to treat the colonists like English citizens and also to squeeze more money out of the colonies to pay off the 7 years war. Another grievance they stated was "for cutting off our trade with all parts of the world".  The restricted markets that the British imposed on the colonists were unfair and did not allow the colonies to receive any products that were not either filtered through Britain or straight from Britain. Following that, another grievance was "for  quartering large bodies of troops among us". Especially because the red coat army was full of indecent soldiers who were brash and abrasive, the colonists were treated very poorly by the army and making the colonists share their home with this army did not go well received. Another large grievance was "for protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states". The colonists were treated unequally under the British laws which caused great upset because they colonists were supposed to behave and get taxed like British citizens but not treated the same under the law. Finally, "for taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our government". In short, the colonists were fed up of constantly being overlooked by the British like they were their little play-thing across the sea that Britain could treat however they wanted to.

3.) Summarize what the final paragraph is saying.
The colonies are declaring outright that from this point on, they are free independent states with no connection to Britain and that they are permitted to go about conducting all the business that a nation would. In addition, this action is carried out by the general congress of the new united states and that the congress carries the will of the people in their decision.


4.) The Declaration of Sentiments was signed by Women who sought progressiveness by stating that all men and women are created equal and that they both have certain inalienable right.