Syeda J.

asked • 09/30/19

Explain how exactly the Declaration of Independence was a declaration of war.

Kenneth H.

tutor
The question wants you to make an argument with supporting evidence that agrees that the Declaration is a declaration of war. Ask: Would Britain allow its 13 North American colonies to leave the British Empire without a fight? We were fighting the British before the Declaration--can you give examples when there is fighting in 1775? So what does the Declaration do? It states John Locke's theory of natural rights and a social contract: 1) people are born with natural rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness (Locke said property). 2) government is a social contract--people give consent to be governed, and the government promises to protect the people's natural rights. If government does not protect those rights, the people can replace the government. The declaration then lists grievances. Part 3--that based on the social contract and how the king has violated the social contract, the 13 colonies now declare themselves to be independent from Britain. Think about this: If the colonies declare themselves to be free, would they want to go back to British rule? Since the King has declared them to be in rebellion before the Declaration was signed, once the Declaration is signed are the colonists saying that they are going to defend themselves from British rule?
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10/02/19

1 Expert Answer

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Chris E. answered • 10/01/19

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A little background might help you here.


During the Enlightenment, writers challenged ideas about government and society by advocating the use of reason to discover truth. They applied the scientific method to society and politics and began to propose new ideas about government.


These ideas then spread across Europe and eventually to colonial America. Enlightened opinions influenced the debate about British rule while political activists, like Thomas Paine, convinced many neutral colonists to support independence.


There are several grievances made clear in the Declaration of Independence, "The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States..." Jefferson also discusses the idea of "unalienable rights," that come from "the consent of the governed" ("That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.").


Jefferson, among other things, is making it clear the colonists have been mistreated by the British, that the colonists have tried to fix things but the system is broken, and now is the time to dissolve the relationship between the colonies and England ("these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States").



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