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In at least one hundred and fifty words, summarize the argument Jefferson puts forth in the Declaration of Independence and the structure he uses to express his argument.

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Answer:

It has become necessary for the 13 colonies to separate from Great Britain. These 13 colonies have the right to become a nation as legitimate as any other nation. Additionally, it is important to explain to the public, including those in other nations, why this declaration of independence is made. This declaration is based on certain truths. All men are meant to be equal and to have certain rights (“unalienable rights”) that the government should never take away. These rights include “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Governments exist to support the rights of men. Governments exist only through the power of the people that they represent. When a government fails to grant rights to the people and removes the involvement of the people, the people have the right to change their government in a way that will allow for their unalienable rights to be protected. Governments should not be overthrown for trivial reasons; it is not typical for people to change a system that they are accustomed to. However, when the people have suffered many abuses under the control of a totalitarian leader, they not only have the right but the duty to overthrow that government.

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User Alan Peabody
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Answer:

The Declaration of Independence of the United States, written by Thomas Jefferson on July 4, 1776, was the document that proclaimed the separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain, declaring the independence of the United States as a sovereign nation.

In this proclamation, Jefferson summarizes the motivations for which the patriots sought independence from Great Britain, specifying the abuses of King George against the individual and economic rights of the settlers, such as the establishment of the Intolerable Acts and the Taxation after the French and Indian War. Later, he mentions that the will of the colonists was that of reconciliation, but that this was not admitted by the British Crown itself.

Thus, he continues to establish that the ideological motivation of the patriots was to establish a nation where the natural rights of men (following the philosophical position of John Locke) were respected, where each individual could enjoy without restriction the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

User Rainey
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