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Essay the Declaration of independence
The declaration of independence and today
Essay the Declaration of independence
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On May 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress gathered in Philadelphia, one month after the colonist began fighting with the British over what they believed to be unfair treatment. There, delegates from each of the thirteen colonies would decide to declare their independence from Great Britain. A formal Declaration of Independence was required to state why the thirteen colonies were separating from the British Empire. The Declaration of Independence consists of a preamble, a middle section, and a section declaring independence. What many consider the most important part, the preamble, justifies the rights of American citizens. Immediately in the preamble, the Declaration of Independence states that all men are created
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equal. As a result of all men being created equal, they are all endowed unalienable rights by their creator, including life, liberty, and property. The Founding Fathers explain that in order to secure these rights within government, the government must have the consent of its constituents. This means that if the citizens feel, at any point in time, that the current government no longer supplies them with the security they need, it is not only a right, but a duty for those citizens to overthrow that government (Declaration, 1776).
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While on one hand, all human beings are said to be equal in the Declaration of Independence, on another it didn’t extend these equalities to white males without property, non-white males, or females at the time. The declaration sets forth a paradigm, or model, of universal natural rights for all human beings, as well as a political paradigm where Americans are considered “one people”. This political paradigm creates the anti-philosophic distinction of “Us” v. “Them” in regards to immigrants within the United States today. America is said to be a nation made up of immigrants, yet only makes policies that favor those who come from Western Europe because they both look similar to us and are much easier to naturalize considering their culture and heritage is usually more closely related to the cultures that already exist in the United States. Originally, within the first 100 years of our country, the U.S. contained an “open-door policy” for those who qualified under property, ethnic, or gender classifications. Asian discrimination began with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 which later led to 1917 legislation that created “barred zones” for Asian immigrants.
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In both 1921 and 1924, a quota system was created to put a cap on the number of Asian and Eastern European immigrants allowed into the country. Hispanic Discrimination, although always present, increased in 1927 with the creation of the United States Border Control to block illegal immigration from Mexico specifically. Although many reform attempts were made to keep up with the ever growing immigration issue, a successful reform has yet to come.
In 1965, President Johnson attempted to give priority to family reunification petitions by immigrants. In 1986, the United States apprehended 1.7 million undocumented immigrants. The Immigration Reform and Control Act was later established which gave amnesty to illegal immigrants then in the country, but also imposed sanctions on employers who hired undocumented workers. A 1996 law doubled the size of border control and created 600 new immigration naturalization services investigative agents, implemented newer technology to catch those crossing the border, made it easier to deport immigrants without proper paperwork, and harder for immigrants to gain political asylum. Although some laws have been made to help out both documented and undocumented immigrants within America, there are still some laws that are blatantly racist towards people of color. For example, an Arizona law allows local police to check a person’s immigration status and criminalizes those who fail to carry registration papers. The Obama Administration has challenged the
constitutionality of this law which caused a court to issue a temporary injunction against controversial provisions within, which is a start to getting rid of the law altogether. Critics of the law claim that it leads to racial profiling because the legal status of a person is not and cannot be determined by sight while many proponents of the law say that is not true. The two main sides of immigration include the Republican view and the Democratic view. Republicans often believe that any illegal aliens should be deported from the country or only those in cases involving criminal misconduct should be deported, depending on how conservative they are. On the other hand, Democrats believe that there should be some measures used to secure the border, but that undocumented immigrants should be given a pathway where they are available to eventually become a citizen of the United States. In order to reach a solution that will help solve the problem that is immigration, both sides will have to make compromises. Conservatives must recognize not all illegal immigrants are responsible for their illegal status, such as children who are brought over illegally by their parents. Liberals must recognize that it is indeed important for our country to police its borders in order to provide security to those who live here. (White, 2011).
Historically, the United States has prided itself as the most egalitarian and autonomous nation in the world. Political figures and institutions have attempted to uphold the theoretical ideals of the nation, while in practice often fail to fulfill their promises to the people. This gap between our fundamental values as delineated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and our discriminatory practices such as slavery and gender discrimination can be found in competing political ideologies which purposefully exclude marginalized peoples. The framers built the United States for the white man; every other person’s rights came, and continue to come afterwards. Once one people’s freedom is postponed, the same oppressive strategies
The Declaration was for the colonists to seek for independence. The quote most widely known is “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”(Jefferson) The Declaration of Independence was written mostly by Thomas Jefferson who stated the above quote. Like the Declaration of Sentiments, all men are created equal. The Declaration of Independence allows the people to have the right to abolish an proposition that they do not agree with. They also have the right to institute a new government if they do not feel it is not ensuring safety and happiness to everyone; they can vote in a government who will ensure this. It is also the peoples right to throw out a government when laws are abused. Every year on July 4, people in the United States celebrate Independence day, also known as the Fourth of
After it was written, 56 delegates coming from all of the 13 colonies signed the Declaration of Independence in order to make it official. This document served great justice during the Atlantic Revolution; it sought to make a difference as to how the colonies were in terms of their alliance with Britain. The Atlantic Revolution was able to make this happen, for it opened up the space for change. Through the document, we can see how the colonies determined to separate themselves from the British Empire. Some things to pay attention to in the writing is that they mentioned things like “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”. The goal of this statement is to make sure that even though the men make up the government and the people must be okay with them, at the end of the day the people have the right to make sure that their government is not being destructive and is aiming towards their rights. The Atlantic Revolution brought forth new ideas of government and the liberation of the colonies from the
Since they lacked certain physical and/or cultural characteristics needed to belong in the American nation, they were not considered worthy enough to receive the same rights and privileges they deserve. Therefore, Takaki hopes that with his book, people would acknowledge how America developed a society centered to benefit only white people with the creation of laws hindering these racial groups from receiving the same and equal rights they deserve.
On July 4, 1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed. The thirteen colonies were no longer under King George III rule. It was a new world that needed a new type of leadership. On July 12, 1776 the Second Congress proposed the Articles of Confederation. The articles were ratified by all thirteen states on March 1, 1781.
Why was the Declaration of Independence written? The Declaration of Independence was written in 1776. We all know that day as Independence Day. It was accepted on July 4, 1776. On that day, the United States had freedom. There was a long, hard process to get the Declaration of Independence where it needed to be. It took several people, and several reviews to get it just right.
Many Americans’ eyes were opened in 1776, when members of the Continental Congress drafted, signed, and published the famous document “The Declaration of Independence” in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By declaring their independence, many of the colonists believed that slaves should have the same rights as the whites had. Abolition groups were formed, and the fight to end slavery begins.
The Declaration of Independence (1776) was written to proclaim the colonists’ independence from Great Britain and announce the rights of its citizens and the role of government, among other declarations. The most famous phrase “…all men are created equal”, authored by Thomas Jefferson, was a statement affirming that tyranny under the rule of King George III and the English Parliament would be met with opposition by the colonists who would protect their liberties in the new republic.
In May of 1776 a resolution was passed at the Virginia Convention in Williamsburg that asked the thirteen American colonies to declare the United Colonies free and independent from the British crown. At the second continental congress the resolution passed and on June 11, 1776 a five-man committee led by Thomas Jefferson was established to write the Declaration of Independence. On July 4, 1776 the members of the second continental congress signed into existence one of the most influential documents in history.
When declaring independence, the bulk of the people thought that would be “…to burn the last bridge, to become traders in the eyes of the mother country.” (Garraty 110). John Dickinson had stated, “ ‘Torn from the body to which we are united by religion, liberty, laws, affections, relation, language and commerce, we must bleed at every vein.’ “ (Garraty 110). The people were afraid to break away, they pondered “ ‘Where shall we find another Britain.’ “ (Garraty 110). Eventually independence was inevitable. There was a great mistrust towards both Parliament and George III when the colonists heard that the British were sending hired Hessian soldiers to fight against them in the revolution. The pamphlet written by Thomas Paine entitled Common Sense called boldly for complete independence. This reflected his opinions on George III, calling him a brute, and also attacking the idea of monarchy itself. “Virtually everyone in the colonies must have read Common Sense or heard it explained and discussed.” (Garraty 110). John Adams dismissed it as something he had said time and time again. “The tone of the debate changed sharply as Paine’s slashing attack took effect.” (Garraty 110). A committee was appointed by Congress, consisting of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and many more. “The committee had asked Jefferson to prepare a draft” that would soon become known as the Declaration of Independence. (Garraty 112). It consisted of two parts: an introduction which justified the abstract right of any people to revolt and described the theory on which the Americans based their creation of a new, republican government, and a second part that made George III, rather than Parliament, look like the ‘bad guy’. “…The king was the personification of the nation against which the nation was rebelling.” (Garraty 112). “The Declaration was intended to influence foreign opinion, but it had little immediate effect outside Great Britain, and there it only made people angry and determined to subdue the rebels.
The Declaration of Independence was written on July 4, 1776. On that day the 13 Colonies became free and Independent states. The Declaration of Independence states this “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. That to secure these rights, 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...
The purpose was to justify the revolution of the “new” colonies. Many of the people were excited for the plan. The American people had thrived for the freedom, and to establish the government for themselves. The Declaration has three parts to the document. The first part was the Declaration of Natural Rights. This explained the basic human rights for each American citizen. The entire document is centered around how each person is equal, and it has been given by God. The second part of the document is composed of lists of grievances. This section listed complaints about the ruler of Great Britain at the time, George III. This, of course, spoken against the ideas of the king, and the ideas of a overpowering monarchy. The third part of the document was the resolution, or conclusion. The resolution concluded that the colonists have officially broken away from Great Britain. With the closing part, the colonists had officially separated from Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence first step was to separate the colonies into states and establish the authorities that will be in control over the
The Declaration of Independence includes four parts. The first part is the Preamble, which explains why the Continental Congress drew up the Declaration. They felt their reason should be explained to England.
There are many important factors in the Declaration of Independence, which enable the foundation of a new government. These range from describing grievances with England, to how government should be run differently, to the first statement of separation. The first step to the foundation of a new government is the uniting of a people in a common goal. Since all people were feeling violated by English soldiers, it was necessary to state these grievances in order to make people aware that they are not alone. When people learned that others felt the same as them emotion was stirred. The Declaration of Independence listed the grievances such as, “He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.” The next important step to the foundation of a new government was to gain peoples ambition by showing how the government would be run if a new party took over. This goal was achieved by stating the rights of man. “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.” This statement made people hopeful and feel kindly toward this new government. The final step in the preparation for a new government was separation from the old government. This was declared twice in the Declaration of Independence. In the beginning, “That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, driving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” and in the end, “that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. In conclusion, the Declaration of Independence was able to motivate people, give them ambition, and made it simple for Americans to take action.
Millions of immigrants over the previous centuries have shaped the United States of America into what it is today. America is known as a “melting pot”, a multicultural country that welcomes and is home to an array of every ethnic and cultural background imaginable. We are a place of opportunity, offering homes and jobs and new economic gains to anyone who should want it. However, America was not always such a “come one, come all” kind of country. The large numbers of immigrants that came during the nineteenth century angered many of the American natives and lead to them to blame the lack of jobs and low wages on the immigrants, especially the Asian communities. This resentment lead to the discrimination and legal exclusion of immigrants, with the first and most important law passed being the Chinese Exclusion Act. However, the discrimination the Chinese immigrants so harshly received was not rightly justified or deserved. With all of their contributions and accomplishments in opening up the West, they were not so much harming our country but rather helping it.