The essence of the US Declaration of Independence, which will be discussed in this article, will help you better understand the history of America. The Declaration is a historical document that states that the British North American colonies gain independence from Britain.
The document was signed on July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia. Today, this date is celebrated by Americans as Independence Day. The Declaration was the first official document in which the colonies became known as the "United States of America".
History of the creation of the US Declaration of Independence
In 1775, a large-scale War of Independence broke out in the United States from Britain, which was one of the most powerful states on the planet. In the course of this conflict, 13 North American colonies were able to get rid of the total control and influence of Great Britain.
In early June 1776, at a meeting of the Continental Congress, a delegate from Virginia named Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution. It said that the united colonies should receive complete independence from the British. At the same time, any political relationship with the United Kingdom must be terminated.
To consider this issue on June 11, 1776, a committee was assembled in the persons of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston. The main author of the document was the famous independence fighter, Thomas Jefferson.
As a result, on July 4, 1776, after adjustments and amendments to the text, the participants in the Second Continental Congress approved the final version of the US Declaration of Independence. The first public reading of the sensational document took place 4 days later.
The essence of the US Declaration of Independence in brief
When the committee members corrected the Declaration, on the eve of its signing, they made a number of changes. An interesting fact is that it was decided to remove from the document the section condemning slavery and the slave trade. In total, approximately 25% of the material was removed from Jefferson's original text.
The essence of the US Declaration of Independence should be divided into 3 key parts:
- all people are equal to each other and have the same rights;
- condemnation of a number of offenses by Britain;
- the rupture of political relations between the colonies and the English crown, as well as the recognition of each colony as an independent state.
The Declaration of Independence of the United States was the first document in history to proclaim the principle of popular sovereignty and reject the then dominant practice of divine power. The document allowed citizens to have the right to freedom of speech, and, consequently, to revolt against the tyrannical government and its overthrow.
The American people are still celebrating the date of the signing of the document that radically changed the law and the very philosophy of US development. The whole world knows how seriously Americans take democracy.
An interesting fact is that German Chancellor Angela Merkel considers the United States of America as exemplary not his country. As a child, she dreamed of visiting the United States, but she managed to do this only at the age of 36.
