The Declaration of Independence

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

While the Declaration of Independence is in many ways a legal document, it is also a philosophical one. The opening lines of the second paragraph describe the philosophical beliefs of the men who signed the Declaration in terms that imply they are not mere beliefs but indubitable truths. These “truths” echo the philosophy of Locke who believed the social contract requires the government to protect citizens’ life, liberty, and property.

“Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

The Declaration of Independence opens by describing (without ever using the term) the social contract theory. This theory, particularly the one defined by Locke, suggests that governments are formed because people voluntarily choose to leave nature and give up certain rights to secure protection for their life, liberty, and property (or pursuit of happiness in the Declaration). Thus, the government has no power on its own but only the power given to it by citizens; by extension, a government forfeits its legitimacy if it fails to protect its citizens’ rights and loses the consent of the governed.

“That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Central to the argument of the Declaration of Independence is that it is right and just to declare independence if a government is abusive. The document proves the government of Great Britain has been “destructive” to the colonists only after first insisting that such abuses should lead to the severing of ties. This quotation from the preamble also employs parallelism by starting with “That” as so many clauses in the preamble do and constructing a rhythm of phrases that begin with “and” or “to.”

“Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”

The signers of the Declaration of Independence make it clear they are not declaring independence on a whim. It states here that a government should not be dissolved for trivial reasons and that few governments have been dissolved historically because people get used to suffering evil. While the signers were convinced that what they were doing was right, their behavior was radical. To win support for their cause, they use language like this to explain that declaring independence is, in fact, prudent. The evils committed by Britain are so severe that the colonists cannot merely continue to suffer.

“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.”

Just before beginning the list of grievances, the Declaration of Independence states that it will prove that the king has been a tyrant. The list comprises not opinions but “Facts” for a “candid” or honest world. To set up its conclusion that the colonies ought to be free, as they no longer consent to be governed by the king, the document attempts to show that the king has not held up his end of the social contract.

“He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.”

In the list of grievances, the Declaration of Independence at times becomes hyperbolic. Here, the use of the phrases “swarms of Officers” and “eat out their substance” are examples of the vivid metaphors the text uses. Since the Declaration is otherwise quite sober, such flourishes serve to provoke the reader rather than make the reader doubt the seriousness of the king’s abuses.

“He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.”

In the list of grievances, Jefferson and the signers make repeated references to the military. The British have made Americans house British troops and kept standing armies in the colonies without the consent of the colonial legislatures and have, according to the Declaration, granted the military excessive powers. It is noteworthy that the colonists see the presence of the soldiers as an attempt by the British to exert control over the colonies and not (as the British might see it) an attempt to keep peace and protect the colonists. The military presence was one of the major contributing factors to the signers’ belief that the king had acted tyrannically and attempted to destroy their lives.

“He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.”

To the Founding Fathers, protection from harm is the bare minimum guaranteed by the social contract that binds people to the government. In this grievance, the Declaration of Independence alleges that the king has not lived up to this standard and has instead attacked the colonists. This thesis is key to the argument that the king has not fulfilled his duties and therefore needs to be replaced.

“He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.”

As the list of grievances goes on, the accusations get more intense. In this quotation, the king is accused of not merely preventing the colonists from having representative government but also of behaving more like a marauding pirate or an invading nation than the protector of a people. The structure of the list creates a crescendo, with the reader perhaps becoming angrier and more impassioned as the document goes on.

“In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.”

Because of the radical nature of declaring independence, the colonists make it known that they have attempted to solve their problems in less dramatic ways. But every time they have attempted to write formal requests to the British government, the government has responded with more abuse. By mentioning that they have made entreaties, the signers anticipate a reader’s objection by noting that the revolution is not the first effort to rectify the problems but, rather, the only remaining one, as compromise is no longer possible.

“A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.”

As part of the argument that the colonists have no choice but to seek independence, the Declaration attempts to prove that the king has acted as a tyrant. This quotation serves as a closing argument. It also uses a metonym for the British government by referring to the king obliquely (and derogatorily) as “a Prince.”

“Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren.”

The signers of the Declaration of Independence make it known that they have attempted to raise their complaints with other British subjects but that they have been ignored. Here, the text uses the noun “brethren” to refer to other British citizens, a word that implies that they ought to be brotherly to the colonists. That they are not suggests that the colonists are already a separate people and indeed independent from Great Britain.

“They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity.”

After the signers make clear they have attempted to talk to their fellow Britons, they note that their “brethren” have treated them no better than the government has. While this experience highlights the need to sever ties with the British, the quotation also provides examples of two rhetorical devices. It makes use of pronouns that separate the signers from others (juxtaposing an implied “us” versus “them”), and it uses metaphorical language, as the British citizens they spoke to were not literally deaf.