Narendran Sairam-Yale

April 14th, 2008

Mr. Richard (Nick) Noble

World History

Analysis of The Declaration Of

Independence written by

Thomas Jefferson

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 The Declaration of Independence, formally known as the Unanimous Declaration of the

thirteen colonies of the United States of America, is the most important document in the history of

the United States of America. Written by Thomas Jefferson, this document outlines the reasons for

the declaration of the independence of the colonies. These reasons include the ignorance of the king,

his excessive use of force, enforcing foreign jurisdiction over the colonies and many others. The

reason this document is so important is because it is the first time where where the colonists put

their foot down and said, “We are free. Like it or not.” This approach is by far the best because it

achieves its purpose of getting the message to the British. Aside from its causes, the writing of the

declaration of Independence also had its impacts. It was used as a propaganda tool and also as a tool

to unite the colonies.

One of the major reasons, according to Jefferson, of the friction between the British and the

colonists of the New World, is the ignorance of King George III. The document says,

“He has refused assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good:”

Laws or rules make up the core of every institution and community and without them there

is no community or institution. Had King George actually cared about the colonists, he would have

put in place some sort of foundation for a jurisdiction and his failure to do so shows how ignorant

and careless King George had been.

After talking about his ignorance, Jefferson moves on to say that King George liked to wage

war than settle things over an argument. He says,

“he has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies and ships of war:

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 he has affected to render the military, independent of and superior to civil power:”

These sentences tell the reader about King George's use of force, and the reason its bad is

because it disrupts the flow of everything. It forces people to trust no one and the sense of

community and peace is lost within a society. Had these unnecessary battles been avoided by the

king, it would have been a lot easier to sort out the problems that, later arose between them, but his

actions lost him the trust of the colonists.

Another major reason that Jefferson stresses on, is the enforcing of foreign jurisdiction.

According to him,

“he has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitutions, and
unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their pretended acts of legislation, for quartering
large bodies of armed troops among us;”

Here, he clearly states that foreign laws, that are not completely understood by them, are

being enforced upon them. They have also been 'deprived of the benefits of trial by jury,'among

other things. This is important because it shows that King George only wanted to colonize this 'New

Word' because he wanted to use the space it provided. He used it as a dump yard with absolute

control over it. This pissed off the colonists because they got arrested for things they did not believe

to be wrong.

Jefferson also says that this is the only option left. He says that:

“in every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our
repeated petitions have only been answered by repeated injury.”
His argument here is that, “ We tried hard to it diplomatically but you did not acknowledge

it. Now we have no choice other than to break away.” And this seems fair because all they want to

do is live independently rather than under the rule of someone who does not really care for them.

Had the King been a little more considerate, maybe the colonists would not have broken away.

Also, later in the document, Jefferson tells the reader that the colonists had already warned

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the British to leave them alone. They had told the British that they did not require any help and they

did not want to be under their jurisdiction but the British did not pay too much heed to this warning

either. This angered the colonists and they began to feel insecure and this is what led to the writing

of the declaration of the independence.

The above reasons are elaborations of only some of the reasons for the declaration of

independence mentioned in the document itself. One reason that is not mentioned but implied by the

declaration of independence is the understanding of the society itself. King George III did not fully

understand the situation and way of life in the Americas. For example, a war of attrition was

completely foreign to him and yet that was the only way the colonists beat the Indians and later the

British themselves. If he had understood the atmosphere overseas, he may have been a better

supporter of the New World and the declaration may have never been written.

The draft that was submitted on June 28th, 1776 had only one reference to God and an entire

paragraph devoted to the opinion that slavery was bad. When the final draft was signed by all the 54

delegates on the fifth of July 1776, there was an entire paragraph devoted to God and absolutely no

mention of slaves or slave trading. The reason for this drastic change was a opinion based

controversy that raged among the thirteen colonies. Many of the thirteen colonies were originally

founded for religious freedom and the Continental congress wanted all of the United States of

America to offer religious freedom. And so there was a whole paragraph inserted devoted to God

and religious freedom. On the rough draft the was also the paragraph about slavery and salve

trading. This created problems because the southern states wanted slavery while the northern states

opposed it. The problem was that the declaration would have no value unless it was signed by the

delegates of all of the thirteen states and so in order to achieve that, the paragraph concerning

slavery was removed. Those were the only two major problems that the writing of the declaration of

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independence ever faced and they were both solved systematically.

So far, the causes of the writing and editing of the declaration of independence have been

told. The declaration of independence also had its impacts. The Declaration was used as a

propaganda tool. The colonists used it to make sure that everybody, including the British, knew

about this act of rebellion. The Declaration also helped to unite the Continental congress. So far, all

the 'states' had taken sides but once this document was written the war, went from being a civil war

to a war of independence. This was also a call for anyone who disliked Britain to join them, like the

French, who absolutely detested the British. All these impacts of the writing and publicizing of the

Declaration of Independence helped kick the British out of the Americas thereby achieving its

purpose.

In conclusion, the writing of the Declaration of Independence was caused by many things.

Almost all of these cause include a fault on King George III's part. His ignorance, his use of

unnecessary force, his enforcing of foreign jurisdiction on the colonists, the decision of the British

to meddle in their business and many others are the causes of the writing of the Declaration of

Independence that are mentioned in the document itself. These cause also imply something about

the King. They show that he was selfish, careless and did not understand life in the Americas. In

addition, the Declaration also had its impacts. It united the states and it was used as a propaganda

tool. The changes that were made to the Declaration between the 28th of June and the 5th of July

have extremely significant impacts too. The addition of the paragraph about God helped show the

religious freedom and the removing of the paragraph about slavery showed the desperate situation

they were in. They were ready to sign something the completely opposed to get their freedom. All

these thing together helped achieve the purpose of the writing of the Unanimous Declaration of the

thirteen colonies of the United States of America which was to drive the British out and gain

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freedom.