Alfredo Esparza

October 13, 2014

Understanding the Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence is probably the most important document
of the United States; therefore, a clear understanding of it is necessary. There are
nine key concepts to the Declaration but can be broken down into two major
sections, the basic structure of the document and the seven component parts. The
length of the whole Declaration is a little less than 1400 words, and about four
hundred words talk about the principles and beliefs upon which the United States
was founded. These four hundred words are divided more or less equally between
the opening and the closing, while the other one thousand words are found in the
body of the document, and those words specify over twenty-five abuses of King
George III toward the American people over a ten-year period.
Four of the seven component parts are found in the introductory remarks,
and the first one is found in the first sentence, and that is the reason for the writing
of the Declaration. The second part is in the second sentence and that is the selfevident truths, which include the following: that all men are created equal; that
they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights; and that
among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. And here, Happiness is
not defined as hedonism (the doctrine that living with all kinds of pleasure is the
highest goal) but as the freedom to use time, talent, and resources to choose
directions in life that would bring an individual the most satisfaction and would

Alfredo Esparza
October 13, 2014

also benefit their family, countrymen, and future generations the most. In the third
sentence, the third part is located, which states the purpose of Government; that is,
to secure the unalienable Rights previously mentioned. The fourth part is found in
the fourth sentence, and it states the Right the people have to change or replace a
government, in case it does not respect the Rights of the people.
The fifth part is the middle section with the more than twenty-five
grievances made by King George III and the declaration of independence itself,
located in the final section. The sixth part is the Rights of United Sovereign
States, which stated the dissolution of all political connections between these
States and the State of Great Britain and that they could do all Acts and Things that
Independent States had the right to do, including waging war, concluding peace,
contracting alliances, and establishing commerce. The seventh and final part is in
the last sentence, and it is The Pledges, in which the American people, with full
confidence that they were supported by God, mutually pledge each other their
Lives, their Fortunes, and their Sacred Honor.