On July 4th, 1776, the Unites States of America officially declared their independence from Britain. The path leading up to that day was wrought with previous wars, boycotts, colonial taxes, massacre’s, and the first continental congress meetings. These specific events contributed towards the convening of 50 representatives from various colonies to declare independence. All the colonies frustrations, unalienable rights, and freedoms represented in one document. But do these rights and freedoms apply to every man? What about the women? Do unalienable rights and freedoms pertain to anybody who is in the United States or just the elite white males who wrote the document? Why was the document written in 1776? These are just a few questions that
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So why does the Declaration of Independence get written in 1776 instead of earlier? Many of the colonists were still pro-monarchial and believed that the parliament was the main problem. This fact led them to believe that everything could go back to “normal”. Another reason is that full independence threatened many elite white colonists. Elites thought full independence would cause the poor and middle class to gain more power rendering the elites less elite (Mailer Audio 2). Another possible reason is that most colonies had the idea that they were all total separate entities, rather than a united nation. These inhibitions contributed to the writing of the Declaration of Independence, one of the main reasons Thomas Jefferson wrote the document was to give the colonists reasons to …show more content…
Did Jefferson mention anything about women’s rights in the DOI and how did the colonial women impact American independence? To answer the first question, no, there was no direct reference to women in the DOI, but men obtain land that the women owns through marriage, so one could make a loose correlation between references of property in the DOI to women. (Mailer Audio 7) Despite not having a direct reference in the DOI, women did have an impact on American independence. One woman specifically, Abigail Adams, wrote a letter in 1776 to her husband John Adams, who eventually became president, reminding him of the women and their rights.
"I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation...” Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, March 31,
So why does the Declaration of Independence get written in 1776 instead of earlier? Many of the colonists were still pro-monarchial and believed that the parliament was the main problem. This fact led them to believe that everything could go back to “normal”. Another reason is that full independence threatened many elite white colonists. Elites thought full independence would cause the poor and middle class to gain more power rendering the elites less elite (Mailer Audio 2). Another possible reason is that most colonies had the idea that they were all total separate entities, rather than a united nation. These inhibitions contributed to the writing of the Declaration of Independence, one of the main reasons Thomas Jefferson wrote the document was to give the colonists reasons to …show more content…
Did Jefferson mention anything about women’s rights in the DOI and how did the colonial women impact American independence? To answer the first question, no, there was no direct reference to women in the DOI, but men obtain land that the women owns through marriage, so one could make a loose correlation between references of property in the DOI to women. (Mailer Audio 7) Despite not having a direct reference in the DOI, women did have an impact on American independence. One woman specifically, Abigail Adams, wrote a letter in 1776 to her husband John Adams, who eventually became president, reminding him of the women and their rights.
"I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation...” Letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams, March 31,