Our Country's Declaration and Constitution

The Declaration of Independence was formed and signed by a group of men committing high treason against the great country of Britain. By writing this declaration and signing it, these men were telling the King they had certain unalienable rights, in which he had prevented the colonists to pursue, and were more than willing to give up their lives to fight for their newly found country’s freedom. Although many people believe the Declaration was only important to the separation from Great Britain, it was a major factor in the drafting of the Constitution.

When one looks at the Declaration of Independence, one might see a short document stating a colony’s independence from its mother country, but there is much more to this document than meets the eye. Basically the declaration is broken up into three major parts, the statement of principles, the list of grievances, and the formal Declaration of the country’s independence. Individually these three parts do not appear to have any real power, but together as one it was the start of the most powerful country in the world.

The first part of the Declaration, the statement of principals, is a proclamation of the rights of man given by a higher law above the king. These are referred to as “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” and are considered self evident truths and that all men are created equal. With this being said the people “are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” (Nichols, 6). When a form of government becomes too powerful for its own good, it is the people’s right to abolish or alter the situation and start a new government. The colonists had to withstand an abusive government in order to survive, but it was their right and duty to over throw the government to secure people from such a tyrannical king.

The list of grievances is also a very important aspect of the declaration. Examples given in this list such as “He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good”, “He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people”, and “He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our legislatures” (Nichols, 7). The King was becoming so tyrannical some thing major had to be done. He began sending troop to the colonies and giving them the authority to get away with living in someone’s home. Also, the King began to tax the people without any representation from the people. The few injustices shown above are very miniscule to the full list, but they give a start for understanding a portion of what was being done to the colonists.

After all of the principals and grievances being stated, the writers began the actual declaration of their independence from Britain. This final paragraph states the people have the Authority and the Right to be free and independent states. From there on out, they were “Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved” (Nichols, 8).

As stated before the Declaration of Independence was not just a declaration of a country’s independence. It was an example of the framework for the United States Constitution, in which several constitutions of other countries were modeled after. When one looks back to the declaration, they see the rights of man being unjustly prevented by a selfish government. The rights stated in the Declaration, “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” are found as a foundation for the Constitution. Article VII, states the Amendments to the Constitution. The first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights. These rights are the self evident truths every man has, as spoken of in the Declaration. In fact, the Bill of Rights is very specific to the rights invaded by the British Government. The Third amendment states, “No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner