DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE JULY 4, 1776 Simplified version of the Declaration of Independence By Mr. Woodland Introduction When it is time to separate 2 political groups, it is respectful to declare reasons for separating Paragraph 2 Obvious truths are: all men created equal; guaranteed rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness Governments are formed to secure these rights by the consent of the governed (democracy) If governments destroy these rights, people can alter or abolish those rights, and new governments can be formed to provide safety and happiness It is cautious that governments not change easily, experience shows men usually endure suffering instead of changing When there is a long record of unfairness of despotism (tyranny), a change in government is justified; the colonies have patiently suffered, and now it is time to change a system of government; King George III has a bad record of unfairness towards the colonies Facts Submitted (evidence of unfairness) The King has: 1. Not agreed to laws for the public good 2. Restricted colonial governors from passing needed laws, suspended laws, or never dealt with problems that laws would have solved 3. Refused to pass laws for colonies unless colonies gave up their representation in government 4. Has forced legislatures to cave in to his demands 5. Closed government operations colonial governments that has opposed his unfairness 6. Prevented elections of local governments and usurped its power 7. Restricted colonial expansion or making expansion difficult 8. Taken away local judicial power 9. Made local judges biased towards the Crown 10. Issued new taxes and sent soldiers to harass colonists 11. Sent standing armies without local consent 12. Allowed military to not be under local control 13. Encouraged Parliament to pass unfair laws for colonies 14. Quartered soldiers in colonies 15. Allowed soldiers to be immune from punishment for murder 16. Closed ports and prevented trade 17. Allowed taxation without representation 18. Taken away the right to trial by jury 19. Moving trials to London 20. Taking over nearby Provinces, then applying the unfairness to the colonies
21. Restricting colonial government 22. Limiting colonial government by replacing local laws with British laws 23. Ignoring colonial governments and attacking colonies with its military 24. Military operations against the colonies 25. Hiring foreign mercenaries to attack colonists 26. Forced colonists to fight their own people 27. Encouraged Indian conflicts on the frontier Paragraph 3 Colonies have tried to complain, but were ignored Paragraph 4 Colonies asked Britain to give us more independence and govern our own affairs; they have ignored us Paragraph 5 Colonies declare independence; no more allegiance to the King; connection to Britain dissolved; Colonies now their own country that has the power to act independently With God protecting us, we pledge our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor 56 signatures followed in the next few weeks and months after July 4, 1776
Declaration of Independence Fact Sheet Mr. Woodland Timeline surrounding the Declaration signing 1776 June 7 - Lee Resolution: Richard Henry Lee from Virginia reads to the Continental Congress a resolution of independence from Britain June 11 Committee of Five (Adams, Sherman, Franklin, Livingston, and Jefferson) appointed to draft a statement of independence. Jefferson drafted it, and Adams and Franklin edited it. June 28 Jefferson finishes the draft July 1 Declaration draft is brought to Congress. July 2 Lee s resolution adopted (vote for independence approved) by 12 of the 13 colonies July 2,3,4 Congress makes alterations and deletions to Declaration July 4 Declaration officially adopted; Committee of Five takes the manuscript copy to John Dunlap, official printer of Congress July 5-100 200 copies, known as Dunlap broadsides, were sent by members of Congress to various committees, assemblies, and commanders of the Continental troops July 19 Congress orders Declaration to be engrossed on parchment and signed by every member of Congress August 2 Declaration signed by most of the members (signing ceremony) August 27 Nov. 19 5 more members sign it 1781 Thomas McKean was the last to sign it Timeline source: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_timeline.html Signed copy There is only one signed original of the Declaration of Independence It is in the National Archives in Washington, DC The signed original is 24.5 inches wide and 29.75 inches high Some reproductions of the signed original were made by William Stone in 1823 Eventually 56 delegates signed, a few signed after August 2 Printed copies 100-200 printed copies without signatures were made by John Dunlap on July 5, 1776 They are 14 inches wide and 18 inches high Only 25 copies are known to exist (the last one sold for $8 million) Of the 25 surviving Dunlap broadsides, 21 copies belong to universities and other public organizations; the remaining four are owned privately Importance The Declaration of Independence is the birth certificate of the United States of America It declared our commitment to freedom and guaranteed our basic rights Many freedoms we have as Americans come from the Declaration of Independence It s the foundation for our other precious documents- the Constitution and the Bill of Rights Without the Declaration, our country would not be the land of the free as we know it today Source: National Archives, Public Reference Staff, www.archives.gov Declaration Road Trip, Scholastic Magazine, page 3
Detailed Timeline of the Original Declaration (events after signing) 1776 Dec. 12 Declaration moved to Baltimore, MD to hide from the British 1777 Jan. 18 Congress orders second official printing March Declaration moved back to Philadelphia Sept. 27 Declaration moved to Lancaster, PA Sept. 30- moved to the courthouse in York, PA and stays there until June, 1778 1778 July - Declaration moved back to Philadelphia until 1783 1783 June - Declaration moved to Princeton, NJ Nov. - Declaration moved to Annapolis, MD 1784 Nov. - the Declaration moved to Trenton, NJ 1785 Held in New York City Hall and probably remained here until 1790 1789 July 24 Charles Thomson gives the Declaration to newly formed Dept. of Foreign Affairs 1790 Declaration moved back to Philadelphia, PA and housed in various buildings 1800 Declaration moved to Washington DC by ship (longest water journey of the document) 1800-1814 Declaration housed in various buildings in DC 1814 As British approach DC, Pres. Monroe orders Stephen Pleasonton to move Declaration up the Potomac to an unused grist mill belonging to Edgar Patterson Declaration moved to Leesburg, VA Sept. Declaration returned to U.S. capital and stayed there ever since with two exceptions 1876 May Oct. - Declaration moved to Philadelphia for the Centennial National Exposition 1941 Dec. 26 Declaration (and US Constitution) moved to Union Station and put on train Dec. 27 guarded by Secret Service agents, the Declaration and Constitution arrives in Louisville, KY at 10:30 AM. More Secret Service agents and a cavalry troop of the 13th Armored Division met the train, convoyed its precious contents to the Bullion Depository at Fort Knox, and placed the Declaration in compartment 24 in the outer tier on the ground level. 1944 Sept. 19 - Declaration and Constitution leave Fort Knox for DC Oct. 1 - Declaration and Constitution are back in the Library of Congress continued on next page
1952 Dec. 13 (11AM) Brigadier General Stoyte O. Ross, commanding general of the Air Force Headquarters Command, formally received the documents at the Library of Congress. Twelve members of the Armed Forces Special Police carried the 6 pieces of parchment in their helium-filled glass cases, enclosed in wooden crates, down the Library steps through a line of 88 servicewomen. An armored Marine Corps personnel carrier awaited the documents. Once they had been placed on mattresses inside the vehicle, they were accompanied by a color guard, ceremonial troops, the Army Band, the Air Force Drum and Bugle Corps, two light tanks, four servicemen carrying submachine guns, and a motorcycle escort in a parade down Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues to the Archives Building. Both sides of the parade route were lined by Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Marine, and Air Force personnel. At 11:35 a.m. General Ross and the 12 special policemen arrived at the National Archives Building, carried the crates up the steps, and formally delivered them into the custody of Archivist of the United States Wayne Grover. Dec. 15 formal enshrining ceremony at the National Archives The Declaration of Independence has remained at the National Archives ever since Timeline source: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_history.html I hope you enjoy this information sheet as well as the two versions of the Declaration of Independence that you received today. Please keep these documents for your records, and always remember this Latin motto that was used during the Revolution by our founding fathers Vis Unita Fortior (out of unity, there is strength). John Adams Samuel Adams Josiah Bartlett Carter Braxton Charles Carroll Samuel Chase Abraham Clark George Clymer William Ellery William Floyd Benjamin Franklin Elbridge Gerry Button Gwinnett Lyman Hall John Hancock Benjamin Harrison John Hart Joseph Hewes Thomas Heyward, Jr. 56 SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE William Hooper Stephen Hopkins Francis Hopkinson Samuel Huntington Thomas Jefferson Francis Lightfoot Lee Richard Henry Lee Francis Lewis Philip Livingston Thomas Lynch, Jr. Thomas McKean Arthur Middleton Lewis Morris Robert Morris John Morton Thomas Nelson, Jr. William Paca Robert Treat Paine John Penn George Read Caesar Rodney George Ross Benjamin Rush Edward Rutledge Roger Sherman James Smith Richard Stockton Thomas Stone George Taylor Matthew Thornton George Walton William Whipple William Williams James Wilson John Witherspoon Oliver Wolcott George Wythe