Deliberating on Deciding on and then…

1. Deliberating onDeciding on and then… DECLARING INDEPENDENCE

2. COMMON SENSE • Thomas Paine wrote the pamphlet Common Sense. • Paine tried to convince the colonists that they did not owe loyalty to England’s King George III or any other monarch for that matter. • Paine was against British rule in America.

3. COMMON SENSE • Paine said Americans did not owe a thing to England because any help they received from England was done so to profit the English, not the Americans. • Paine said it could only hurt America to stay under British rule. • 500,000 copies of Common Sense were printed and sold. • George Washington said that Common Sense was, “working a powerful change in the minds of men.”

4. Thomas Paine

5. MOVING TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE • Common Sense influenced many members of the Continental Congress. • June 1776 – Virginia’s Richard Henry Lee offered a resolution stating that, “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states.” • Members of the Congress knew that if they declared independence, anyone involved could be hanged as a traitor.

6. It was decided that they would form a committee to create a formal document to be sent to the King that would declare our independence. • Thomas Jefferson • Benjamin Franklin • John Adams • Robert Livingston • Roger Sherman

7. They selectedThomas Jeffersonto write the document.Jefferson had a reputation for writing clearly and gracefully.

8. The Declaration of Independence

9. The Declaration of Independence • June, 1776 – Jefferson reads the final copy of the Declaration of Independence to the Continental Congress. • July 2, 1776 – The Continental Congress voted that the 13 colonies were “free and independent states.”

10. July 4, 1776 – Congress Accepts the Declaration of Independence John Hancock, the President of the Continental Congress, signed the Declaration first – and in the largest handwriting.

11. Patriots celebrated the news of Independence! • They tore down a statue of King George III in New York. • Cannons rang out in celebration in Boston.

12. Structure of the Declaration Of Independence • Preamble • PART I – Natural Rights • PART II – Lists the Wrongs done to the colonies by the King • PART III –Dissolving Bonds

13. Part I – Natural Rights • People form governments to protect their natural rights and liberties. • Government can only exist if the people governed allow it. • If the government fails to protect the people’s rights, they have the right and duty to change it to protect their future security. 

14. Part II – British Wrongs(This was a list of all that the King did that we felt was unfair) • The banning of colonial legislatures and for sending in British troops in times of peace. • The limits on trade and taxes imposed without the people’s approval. (Navigation Acts, Stamp Act, Quartering Act, Tea Act, Intolerable Acts) • Ignoring the petitions the colonists sent to the monarchy.

15. Part III – Dissolves the bonds between Britain and the Colonies forever Officially declares a separation from Britain, forming the United States of America.

16. Free & Independent States Left to right: Ben Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson finishing the Declaration of Independence.