CONSTITUTION 101
Module 2: Principles of the American Revolution
2.5 Primary Source
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (1776)
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View the document on the National Constitution Center’s website here.
On July 4, 1776, the United States officially declared its independence from the British Empire
when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. The
Declaration was authored by a “Committee of Five”—John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas
Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman—with Jefferson as the main drafter. But
Jefferson himself later admitted that he was merely looking to reflect the “mind of
Americans”—bringing together the core principles at the heart of the American Revolution. The
Declaration also included a list of grievances against King George III, explaining to the world
why the American colonies were separating from Great Britain. The American Revolution ended
with the Battle of Yorktown in 1781 and the Treaty of Paris in 1783. A little over two decades
after King George III took the throne, the American people had broken from Great Britain and
begun a new experiment in republican government.
Excerpt:
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. To prove
this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
● He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness
his invasions on the rights of the people. . . .
● He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the
amount and payment of their salaries.
● He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass
our people, and eat out their substance.
● He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our
legislatures.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and
unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
● For protecting them by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should
commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
● For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
● For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: