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Significance declaration of independence
Importance of declaration of independence
Significance declaration of independence
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In “Freedom is Intended as a Challenge,” Naomi Wolf explains that Americans don’t understand the real meaning of the Declaration of Independence. Wolf develops her idea by fist pointing out that for most of the Americans the Declaration of Independence means life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This leads Americans to interpret the declaration of independence as personal pleasures. However, the Declaration goes beyond of how it is interpreted it today. Naomi Wolf says that the Declaration of Independence is a valuable sword that every American has inherited. In the modern translation of the Declaration, Jefferson alludes that as a society all Americans have the right to be free, but at the same time; he is saying that each member of the society has the responsibility to continue fighting for that freedom “They understood the status of being an American existentially, that it means that one has signed on to fight the permanent revolution. So real patriotism means understanding that the Declaration of Independence charges us categorically and always as Americans to rise up in person against threats to liberty” (Wolf 636). In this quote, Wolf argues that the members of the society must work as a whole to rise up and rebel against the ones to attempt to that freedom. But in order to fight as a whole, Wolf claims that first every American must make a personal commitment to defend their natural right “freedom” and protect the honor of their country even if this implies a personal risk. …show more content…
If each member of the society is willing to make this personal commitment, this will make a difference in the society, so each member of the society will work together as one nation, raising their voices for freedom. In “Learning to Read”, Malcolm X describes the efforts he had to make with himself in order to improve his languages skills. However, Malcolm X did not limit himself to learning the basic English grammar. He went beyond to more serious readings. These readings helped him to discover a new world of knowledge especially in the African American community “I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading opened to me. I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant to be mentally alive. I certainly wasn’t seeking any degree, the way college confers a status symbol upon its students. My homemade education gave me, with every additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to be deafness, dumbness, and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America” (X 196). In “Learning to Read” the author Malcolm X is an example of Wolf’s ideas. He is an example of how much you can make if you raise your voice. Book after book gave him the knowledge of how the white men through the time had made many atrocities against the African Americans. This knowledge empower him in many ways, first even though he was in prison, he felt that he was free. Second, this knowledge helped him to develop a different perspective of life that awoke in him a sense of help and finally this knowledge empower him to become in one of the most articulate and powerful leaders in the Africans American community. Malcolm X understood the meaning of the Declaration of Independence; he was not looking for a personal pleasures. He understood that he need to make a personal commitment to defend his human rights as well as the African Americans. In the days of the civil movements, he with other Africans Americans raised up their voices as a whole to defend and protect their natural right “freedom” even if this implies a risk in their lives.
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
America is well known for many things, and one of the main qualities is the idea and practice of freedom and liberty. When thinking of the United States, one would probably say “Land of the free, Home of the brave.” America is a place where citizens have rights, can have happiness, and are free to live the life they choose. Although America is so free now, have citizens always had the rights that they have today? The founding fathers of the United States of America made the way to freedom when the Declaration of Independence was written, but even though it was written down, not all citizens had freedom. When Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote The Declaration of Sentiments, she used The Declaration of Independence as a guide. Freedom was still freedom, of course, but Stanton used it for a purpose that was different from how the founding fathers used it. When Stanton wrote the Declaration of Sentiments, she not only included the way Americans believe in freedom and liberty, she also included the way the beliefs can change and be interpreted in different ways.
If the soldiers who fought in the American Revolution were alive today to see what our nation has accomplished, they would cry tears of joy. These people defined their freedom as having an independent country where everyone would reunite and live under a set of laws where they all have equal rights. The novel, 1776, emphasizes the emotions that Americans had when the Declaration of Independence was signed through the following lines, “The year 1776, celebrated as the birth of the nation and for the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was for those who carried the fight for independence forward a year of all-too-few victories, of sustained suffering, disease, hunger, desertion, cowardice, disillusionment, defeat, terrible discouragement, and fear, as they would never for...
In conclusion, without struggle and without sacrifice this country would not have gained the independence and prove that united we stand and divide we fall. Thomas Paine quite elegantly put it “however strange it may appear to some, or however unwilling they may be to think so, matters not, but many strong and striking reasons may be given to shew, that nothing can settle our affairs so expeditiously as an open and determined declaration of independence” (Paine 111).
In Eric Foner’s book, The Story of American Freedom, he writes a historical monograph about how liberty came to be. In the book, his argument does not focus on one fixed definition of freedom like others are tempted to do. Unlike others, Foner describes liberty as an ever changing entity; its definition is fluid and does not change in a linear progress. While others portray liberty as a pre-determined concept and gradually getting better, Foner argues the very history of liberty is constantly reshaping the definition of liberty, itself. Essentially, the multiple and conflicting views on liberty has always been a “terrain of conflict” and has changed in time (Foner xv).
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.
After enduring “a long train of abuses and usurpations” the colonists decided to declare themselves free of British rule (para 2). Jefferson writes that given their “unalienable rights . . . Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”, “it is the Right of the People . . . to institute new Government”, one that will fairly represent them, to reestablish order (para 2). The Declaration of Independence does not seek to convince or even encourage action; rather, it aims to declare. There are no mistaking Jefferson’s words. The Colonists are tired of the mistreatment and they are effectively severing all “Allegiance to the British Crown, and . . . political connection” (para 23). The audience of The Declaration of Independence, the world, is specifically addressed twice. The first
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson appeals to patriotism. Jefferson ensures this by persuading the colonists to become self-governing. He tries to let all of the people of the New World understand that they have protested and defended themselves against the British for all of the corrupt acts the British have committed upon the colonists. Jefferson’s tone in the Declaration of Independence portrays how tiresome he has grown of the British rule after all of the deception towards Americans. Included within the idea of patriotism, is the idea of loyalty to the fundamental values and principles underlying American democracy. Thomas Paine also provides patriotism to get advocates for the movement to separate from the British forces. Correspondingly, Paine persuades Americans that they will prosper in numerous areas without the control of the British saying, “Is the power who is jealous of our prosperity, a proper power to govern us? Whoever says No to this question is an independent, for independency means no more, than, whether we shall make our own laws…” (Paine). Paine uses a demanding tone to convince Americans that if they should accept the ties with Britain, it will bring ruin and distress to the
Imagine living in a dystopian society where the world that once thrived was completely forgotten. Individualism and freedom cease to exist. Equality 7-2521 finds himself living in this society in which he soon realizes he does not belong. Anthem, by Ayn Rand, portrays the theme of freedom versus confinement through the eyes of Equality 7-2521 as he struggles to free himself from the restricting society in which he lives.
We all know that our Declaration was written to let us know what was happening in our world. It specifically showed us what actions Britain did to us and reassures the people of the United States that these incidents will no longer happen in our country. As our forefathers sat down to write this paper, they kept in mind the good of the nation and knew that we would look upon these words they wrote, forever in the future. But have you ever wondered what a person from the past might think of our Declaration of Independence? Our earlier authors have many of the same ideas the Declaration outlines. Specifically, Epicurus and Aristotle agree with our forefather’s idea of the rights of life, liberty and especially the pursuit of happiness. Another author that agrees with this document is Machiavelli. In his book, “The Prince” he lets us know about his feelings on prudence. If these philosophers were alive today, they would have only positive criticisms about one of the most famous documents of all time.
What is the Declaration of Independence? The declaration of independence states that all individuals have inalienable rights, requiring life, liberty, and property, a document by which the thirteen colonies proclaimed their independence from Great Britain. If these rights are not protected, people have the right to abolish the government and institute a new one that is willing to secure those rights and their happiness. The declaration was written by Jefferson when he had the vision that America should be liberal. While liberals wanted to over through the government, conservatives believed that not every person should receive the same privilege, not every person is the same and therefore, not every person should be created equal. America is viewed as a liberal state. Thomas Jefferson once said, “When the people fear the government, there is tyranny, when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” This was the strongest reason for the people to bear arms, so that they can be protected from tyranny in the government. People wanted their independence.
In the Declaration of Independence, it states: “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 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.” Our inspired founding fathers wrote this document to influence every American who has ever lived in the country. The incredible thing about this document is it encourages civil disobedience if a government becomes destructive of a person’s life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.
2007 drama film, Freedom Writers, directed and written by Richard LaGravenese (whose previous screenplays include The Fisher King and The Bridges of Madison County) starring Hilary Swank, Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton and Patrick Dempsey. It is based on the book The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell (teacher by profession) who wrote the story based on Woodrow Wilson Classical High School in Long Beach, California. Hilary Swank stars in this enthralling movie of ghetto kids raised on street corners, underprivileged boys and girls who use drugs, have served time in prison, and are very angry about living in a war zone where people are killed regularly on the streets. She gives them what they need to be successful independently, a voice of their own. Erin Gruwell turned this story around from immense struggles to a successful ending by revolving a rough furious classroom situation into an educational achievement.
The 2007 movie Freedom Writers gives a voice of hope and peace in a fragile environment where hate and sorrow battle in the life of urban teenagers. This drama film narrates the true story of a new English teacher, Erin Growell, who is designated to work in an inner-city school full of students surround by poverty, violence and youth crime bands. During the beginning of the movie, the teacher struggles to survive her first days at this racially segregated school in which students prejudice her for being white and ignore her authority in the classroom. The teacher encounters the life of students who are hopeless for a better future and attached to a delinquency lifestyle of survival. In addition, she confronts a reality of lack of educational
The film Freedom Writers directed by Richard La Gravenese is an American film based on the story of a dedicated and idealistic teacher named Erin Gruwell, who inspires and teaches her class of belligerent students that there is hope for a life outside gang violence and death. Through unconventional teaching methods and devotion, Erin eventually teaches her pupils to appreciate and desire a proper education. The film itself inquiries into several concepts regarding significant and polemical matters, such as: acceptance, racial conflict, bravery, trust and respect. Perhaps one of the more concentrated concepts of the film, which is not listed above, is the importance and worth of education. This notion is distinctly displayed through the characters of Erin, Erin’s pupils, opposing teachers, Scott and numerous other characters in the film. It is also shown and developed through the usage of specific dialogue, environment, symbolism, and other film techniques.