The Declaration of independence was carefully drafted by Thomas Jefferson with influence from 18th century Enlightenment Philosopher, primarily the ideas of John Locke regarding government. Although many American may not be aware the United States has a political philosophy, we do; it can be found in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. Our political philosophy derives from, “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.” It was written using “self-evident” to tell people that no matter what, this is a truth you can’t reason to, but only away from it. There
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This occurred when a declaration of grievances letter was written to King George III, in hopes of persuading him to repeal the Coercive Acts within the colonies. However, King George III ignored the letter and chose to demonstrate his perceived authority within the colonies. Since violence increased and colonist were consistently being taxed without representation, our founding fathers began drafting the Declaration of Independence. As the Declaration of Independence was being drafted, our Founding Fathers had enough respect for King George III to tell him why the colonist were going to declare their independence, “...a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” It was not one but many reasons as to why American colonists declared their independence. Initially they claimed that King George III had violated their rights as Englishmen though a series of acts imposed on the colonies such as; the Stamp Act, the Quartering Act, the Declaratory Act, and the Townshend Duties. During these times, King George III also set up numerous offices and embedded tax collectors throughout the colonies to force payment of taxes by the colonist. When colonist refused to abide by acts imposed by Parliament, King George III dissolved Representative Houses first in Albany then in Massachusetts. He refused to recognize the colonies as having a legislative system of their own and required all trial to be held in England. This was done in order to limited access to their local documents, only to have the sole purpose of making the colonist abide by his laws. Additionally, Parliament had restricted population growth, colonization expansion, and conditions to gain land when the Proclamation line was established. Colonist did not like that any positions of power within the
This occurred when a declaration of grievances letter was written to King George III, in hopes of persuading him to repeal the Coercive Acts within the colonies. However, King George III ignored the letter and chose to demonstrate his perceived authority within the colonies. Since violence increased and colonist were consistently being taxed without representation, our founding fathers began drafting the Declaration of Independence. As the Declaration of Independence was being drafted, our Founding Fathers had enough respect for King George III to tell him why the colonist were going to declare their independence, “...a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” It was not one but many reasons as to why American colonists declared their independence. Initially they claimed that King George III had violated their rights as Englishmen though a series of acts imposed on the colonies such as; the Stamp Act, the Quartering Act, the Declaratory Act, and the Townshend Duties. During these times, King George III also set up numerous offices and embedded tax collectors throughout the colonies to force payment of taxes by the colonist. When colonist refused to abide by acts imposed by Parliament, King George III dissolved Representative Houses first in Albany then in Massachusetts. He refused to recognize the colonies as having a legislative system of their own and required all trial to be held in England. This was done in order to limited access to their local documents, only to have the sole purpose of making the colonist abide by his laws. Additionally, Parliament had restricted population growth, colonization expansion, and conditions to gain land when the Proclamation line was established. Colonist did not like that any positions of power within the