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Commentary on declaration of independence
Commentary on declaration of independence
Commentary on declaration of independence
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The committee assigned three intellectual founding fathers, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Ben Franklin, to the challenging task of creating the Declaration of Independance. The first draft touched on the basic points and consisted of dull language. So, the crew had to dive back into their writing and add sensational word choice and proper language. They had to make sure that every sentence and idea was precise. John Adams and Ben Franklin were both considered unfit or controversial to be labeled as the “author”, and because of that, Jefferson was their last hope. But unfortunately, Jefferson was enduring major writer’s block. All he could do was pace frantically around his room praying that some inspiration would hit. His landlady witnessed
his endless struggle and recorded it all in her journal. Jefferson had little accomplished and time was running out. You can imagine how incredibly frustrated and stressed he was. So, Jefferson turned to his little known passion, the violin, for help. He came up with the solution for his anti-creative mood. He would play his instrument for a half-an-hour straight, then stop, switch gears and go back to writing. The stringed instrument gave him the relief he needed from all of the pressure and stress. This made him able to successfully write. Suddenly, the house seemed to be quiet. No more pacing, no violin notes circling the air. Finally, after a grueling few days of work the Declaration was complete! Many say that the violin may have just been the much-needed key that unlocked Jefferson’s linguistic genius. So as you can see, a couple tunes on a violin played a gigantic role in the founding of our America and also the creation of arguably one of the most important documents that this country has ever seen!
However, the author 's interpretations of Jefferson 's decisions and their connection to modern politics are intriguing, to say the least. In 1774, Jefferson penned A Summary View of the Rights of British America and, later, in 1775, drafted the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (Ellis 32-44). According to Ellis, the documents act as proof that Jefferson was insensitive to the constitutional complexities a Revolution held as his interpretation of otherwise important matters revolved around his “pattern of juvenile romanticism” (38). Evidently, the American colonies’ desire for independence from the mother country was a momentous decision that affected all thirteen colonies. However, in Ellis’ arguments, Thomas Jefferson’s writing at the time showed either his failure to acknowledge the severity of the situation or his disregard of the same. Accordingly, as written in the American Sphinx, Jefferson’s mannerisms in the first Continental Congress and Virginia evokes the picture of an adolescent instead of the thirty-year-old man he was at the time (Ellis 38). It is no wonder Ellis observes Thomas Jefferson as a founding father who was not only “wildly idealistic” but also possessed “extraordinary naivete” while advocating the notions of a Jeffersonian utopia that unrestrained
Though the full scope wasn't probably apparent, Jefferson had a way of ensuring these types of meetings would universally be looked back on the way he wanted. Many of the discussions leading up to the dinner conversation were conveniently tucked away. This made the dinner conversation out to be much more important and decisive than it probably actually was. Ellis repeatedly touches these three themes throughout “The Dinner” to illustrate how much personal relationships, ideas, personalities, and presumed control affected the way our government was formed, and how we view the process as it took place.
Benjamin Banneker, the son of former slaves and an author of this letter that he wrote to Thomas Jefferson, brought to the attention of inequality and unfairness of slavery. Banneker’s purpose is to have Thomas Jefferson to reflect n the words written in the Declaration of Independence and to voice out his opposing viewpoint on slavery in order to make change to the equality spoken in the Declaration of Independence. Banneker adopts a serious and critical tone with Tomas Jefferson to show him that slaves did not experience what they should’ve experienced, which where the rights entitled by nature.
Imagine living in a country where no citizen has a say in the government’s actions. Envision a nation where the ruler can tax people without permission and the common people are forced to obey without question. That was life in The Colonies before the year of 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was created. Great Britain passed laws whether it benefited the people or not. Before the Declaration of Independence was composed, a plethora of unnecessary taxes were approved. These taxes sent many colonists into debt. According to “The Declaration of Independence, 1776,” published on Office of the Historian, a famous tax called the Stamp Act was passed by Parliament. This tax forced colonists to purchase stamps for every paper product
As the tensions between Britain and the colonies grew stronger, Samuel stayed loyal to the crown. He viewed the American government as very primitive and dependent on the British government. When talk of the First Continental Congress arose, he began to voice his opinion. He tried to stop the election of the delegates by writing various pamphlets. His attempt proved futile and the delegates were elected and met together on that fateful day in Philadelphia when a new nation was envisioned. Now Samuel began to take more courageous steps in preventing the breaking away of the colonies. He wrote “Westchester Farmer” ,a compilation of five essays reasoning why the colonies should stay with the English. The five essays were Free Thoughts on the Proceedings of the Congress, The Congress Canvassed, Free Thoughts in the Full Vindication of the Congress, A View of Controversy, The Republican Dissected. Some of the writings were directed towards New Yorkers and local farmers. He begged the New York legislature to reject the laws of the “enthusiastic republicans” and was quoted as saying, ”The Congress is in the power of a faction using a mob to carry out its purposes”. The other writings were a rebuttal or defense to Alexander Hamilton’s attack. Hamilton was a student at the time when the pamphlets came out and he wrote The Farmer Refuted, a pamphlet opposing Seabury’s loyalist views. The news spread like wild fire and four of the pamphlets were printed in newspapers across the colonies. Samuel was branded a loyalist right away and this unintentionally made him some enemies.
One of the greatest conflicts in the history of the United State of America, the Revolutionary War, was started when the colonies of North America declared themselves independent from British rule. A group of men known as the Founding Fathers, which included George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John and Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and others, formed the Continental Congress to rule their new nation. They chose Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence, which they would send to King George III to make their independence official. Jefferson knew that he needed to use strong language to make a solid agrument against British rule in the colonies and to convince the colonists that independence was the only choice to maintain their freedom as human beings. The powerful use of parallelism, ethos, pathos, and logos helpd Thomas Jefferson to convey his idea that all men are created equal with unalienable rights and that it is the duty of the government to protect those rights.
Jefferson, Thomas. "The Declaration of Independence." The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues Across the Disciplines. 8th edition, Ed. Gilbert H. Muller. New York: McGraw Hill, 2003. 305-308.
Our Declaration of Independence, was penned most notably by Thomas Jefferson in response to the atrocities committed by the British Crown against the citizens of the American Colonies. At the time of the drafting of The Declaration, Jefferson was widely known to be a successful practitioner of Law as a lawyer, and an eloquent writer. It is due to this, that although Jefferson was a member of a five-man committee charged with drafting the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was tapped to be the main author.
The Declaration has helped in many debates ranging from the banning of slavery to the acknowledgement of newly independent nations (Tsesis 3). In 1774 delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies gather in Philadelphia to meet at the First Continental Congress to decide what to do about the British laws. Most people wanted to fix the relationship with England instead of gaining their independence. The British leaders would have most likely been up to the idea of negotiating, but instead the American Revolution was started. Thomas Jefferson was not present at the first Congress. A month after the Second Continental Congress started, Jefferson took his seat as a delegate from Virginia. John Adams stated that Jefferson had “a reputation for literature, science, and a happy talent for composition” (8). Jefferson noticed that many people were not yet open to the idea of independence, they were still trying to stay with England. During this time Common Sense came out and paved the way for the Declaration of Independence. After Common Sense came out, Richard Price published a pamphlet which condemned parliamentary infringement on the colonists’ rights. This pamphlet became very popular and was in circulation in England and America. On April 12,1776 North Carolina became the first colony “to concur with the delegates of the other colonies in declaring Independency” (10). On May 15 Congress published a preamble which explained that the Americans planned to be removed from the rule of England. This was the first step to a real declaration of independence because it finally showed that America decided to gain their independence.
It was the 4th of July in 1776 when delegates from all thirteen colonies assembled at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Not knowing the full significance of what was about to take place that day,the delegates would do something that would forever change the course of the American people.
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence for the American colonists to proclaim freedom from Great Britain's oppressor, King George III. American colonists had been suffering for many years when this important document was drafted. King George III had pushed the colonists into a state of tyranny and most decided it was time to start an independent nation under a different type of government. Jefferson focused his piece toward many audiences. He wanted not only King George III and the British Parliament to know the American's feelings, but also the entire world. The time had come for an immense change amongst the American colonists and Jefferson made sure everyone was aware of it by using his superior strategies of persuasion.
The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson, representing the thirteen colonies under British rule. After being oppressed under the tyranny of Britain, Jefferson writes the Declaration of Independence to address the King of Britain to declare independence from British rule. Jefferson addresses many subjects, however he focuses on the subject freedom, throughout his writing. Through his use of inductive reasoning, anaphora, and vilifying words in his logical reasoning, Jefferson successfully expresses the colonies’ frustration towards Britain and the colonies’ desire for independence.
From 1815 to 1850, the United States did not fulfill the ideals of the Declaration of Independence for all people by 1850 because immigrants and women did not have equal political, social, and political rights. For example, immigrants didn't even get to vote until they stayed in America for 21 years. Immigrants couldn't even take place in the government and couldn't hold a place in the office. Then we can't even forget about how women was treated like how they treated slaves. Women couldn't vote, speak in public, and can even be beaten by their own husbands. This is why the United States didn't fulfill the ideals of the Declaration of Independence for everyone.
The second continental congress was signing an important document on the July of 1776, that will forever change the aspects of how the English Colonies (Now the United States of America) would function as an independent nation. If I were I be there, I would fully support and sign the document, based on its political and economic reasons. This founding document was to be known as the Declaration of Independence.
Without its inspiring authors, America would have lost its drive during the initial battles of the Revolutionary War. Literature in the time before, during, and after the Revolutionary War forever made an enormous impact on historical events. In this time, literature assumes a huge position in society and everyone keeps an eye out for the newest piece. The writers of short works such as Letters from an American Farmer, Declaration of Independence and Common Sense all gave Americans a reason to fight for their freedom and surge forward as an emergent independent nation. Thomas Paine implements a mixture of forceful emotions and opinions as well as hard facts and literal common sense to beautifully present his argument against British rule. Paine wrote several pamphlets encompassing everything from why the British should not rule America to rallying the troops to continue fighting for their freedom. J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur writes about his love for America and his appreciation for the freedoms allowed even though America is imperfect. These letters are about a fictional farmer named Farmer James who, while being a loyal follower of Britain, learns to love American life and its quirks. Thomas Jefferson expresses his desire for freedom from British rule and for America to determine its own future in writing the Declaration of Independence. He devotes his precious time and effort to ensure that America would have a set of strictures to adhere to and not fall into the throes of chaos and anarchy. Each of these authors express their personal philosophies concerning America’s future and the capabilities expected of it through various forms and styles of literature.