How To Write An Essay On The Declaration Of Independence

Whenever there are times of great trial, everyone has their own rallying point. These tend to be unique—to a culture, a person, a religion—but they all serve the same purpose. They are what the person or group defines as their most fundamentally important characteristic—what makes them different from those around them. For the people of the United States, one of these points is at the very inception of the country: The Declaration of Independence. Within the first several lines there exists an endemic statement that drives the will of many Americans, “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 …show more content…
In fact, the truly powerful bit in the minds of that time was not until the end of the document, where Jefferson and the other founders declare with the gusto that they were now “FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES.” (Slauter) Indeed the inclusion of this list of rights seems rather odd when the context of the document is taken into consideration. When taken at the simplest interpretation the Declaration of Independence is merely a list of grievances against the King of England that provides the founders reasoning as to why they are seeking their independence (Slauter). By that interpretation life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is merely flowery language used to create an intriguing prolog. However, this was not the intentions of the founders. Abraham Lincoln knew this and stated that this line was not included for the revolution, but “for future use,” by the people of the United States (Slauter). Throughout the course of the next 200 some years, this became true. The “future use” of this phrase was a rallying point for the people of the United States, a place for them to find their