PATIENT
Declaration of Independence
ADOPTED
July 4, 1776
AUTHOR
Jefferson, edited by Congress
LENGTH
About 1,300 words
CHIEF COMPLAINT
Why are thirteen colonies leaving, and who are they saying it to?
HISTORY OF PRESENT ILLNESS
A breakup letter with footnotes. By the summer of 1776 the colonies were already at war with Britain, and Congress needed to say why, partly to potential allies abroad. The famous second paragraph states when a people may throw off a government. The long list of grievances that follows is the evidence. Congress voted for independence on July 2 and approved this text on July 4.
REVIEW OF SYSTEMS
CONSENT
Governments get their just powers from the consent of the governed. That is the premise everything else rests on.
RIGHTS
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, endowed by a Creator, not granted by the King.
RESISTANCE
Not for light and transient causes, but a long train of abuses. The document works hard to show this king qualifies.
GRIEVANCES
Commonly counted as 27, addressed to the King personally, and several became protections in the Bill of Rights.
SILENCE
The slavery passage was cut. The list contains language about Native peoples that is hard to read now.
PHYSICAL EXAM — STYLE & STRUCTURE
- —It is not part of the Constitution and does not create enforceable rights the way a law does.
- —The text names God four ways and never names Jesus, Christ or the Bible. People on every side quote that fact selectively.
- —Most signers signed on August 2, not July 4.
- —Jefferson and Adams, rivals turned friends again, both died on its fiftieth anniversary, July 4, 1826.
ASSESSMENT & PLAN
Read the second paragraph, then a stretch of the grievances to see what the argument is actually built on. Every claim in this guide carries a tag (Settled, Disputed or Popular myth) and a source line, and the full Study Guide shows both sides of the live arguments at equal length.