Was there something you were trying to find out? The Declaration of Independence – A Modern Language Version by Brent Riggs Author Preface The Declaration of Independence is an incredible document that communicates the reasons why many people pledged their life, wealth and honor to risk war and death to create the United States of America we now take for granted. He tells us these soldiers can do whatever they want and don’t have to obey the law. Gary Shattuck: The Declaration is a creative, extra-legal document to justify revolution. We’re not making any effort to hide our leftist views: it’s on every page of the site: “Simple history articles for leftists, activists, feminists, pacifists, and people of color. Grievance: “He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.” To view the modern alone, or the original . The Crown was, of course, much incensed and set up a royally appointed court of inquisition to discover any perpetrators. Go figure. Many of the Declaration’s allegations, such as this one, are based on this purported withdrawal of protection by England that allowed the rebels to withhold their allegiance. He had the legal right and responsibility to send troops to protect the colonies. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States are the two most important, and enduring documents in our Nation’s history. We feature smart, groundbreaking research and well-written narratives from expert writers. I am taking my first history class in college, and as a non-native Engliah speaker, the language and terms used in history books are very difficult for me to understand. Among the men who signed this declaration of independence were Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. The word “group” is singular not plural. The Declaration of Rights and Grievances was made by the First Continental Congress in October 14, 1774. Steven M. Baule: The British government offended the New England religionists by supporting Catholicism, and the middle and southern colonists by restricting expansion. The king of England has done many bad things to us – here is a list: When we ask him to stop, he just keeps on doing more bad things. Phrases like this encourages class, religioius, and ethnic divisions Even in today’s politics, many of our legislatures are wealthy. We have no more political connection to England at all. Grievance: “For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury.” Declaration of Independence. The Indian population in the the area of the 13 colonies was also sparce. This began to change in the 1680s. Three days before the convention, feminists Lucretia Mott, Martha C. Wright, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Mary Ann McClintock met to assemble the agenda for the meeting along with the speeches that would be made. 1. Note that it accuses England of depriving the colonists trial by JURY, not of depriving them of trials entirely. Learn more by reading this analysis and summary of The Declaration of Independence. the British Parliamentary ministers, the British monarch, and the British colonists. Thank you!! The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America: Sometimes it becomes necessary for a group of people to declare their independence from a government they used to be connected to. Our work has been featured by the New York Times, TIME magazine, History Channel, Discovery Channel, Smithsonian, Mental Floss, NPR, and more. Sure your intents are good, but this can corrupt the information you are citing. The king was commander of the armed forces, and responsible for the defense of the British empire. Those seventeen soldiers were officially under Capt. hi i really like this website.It has taught me a lot in school. Reach out on twitter (@Quatr_us) or Instagram (@quatr.us) or by email (karen @ quatr.us). So happy we could help. Journal of the American Revolution is the leading source of knowledge about the American Revolution and Founding Era. Declaration Home Page I enjoyed the story very much. He won’t let us have a jury for our trials, only a judge. Thank you very much!! He sends lots of new government officials that we don’t want, and he makes us pay for them. Coming soon: free lesson plans and a first-rate resource area. This may have been the general opinion of members of the Congress. It did not seem to be needed, other than contributing to and strengthening an immediate sense of outrage. John L. Smith: Up to the hiring of Hessian mercenariesby King George III, the “repeated injuries and usurpations” borne by the Americans (serious as they were) had been of a “family’ nature of kindred blood; e.g. It says that the Americans were no longer under British rule.Instead, the thirteen British colonies came together to become a … Hoping to have video versions of a lot of our best articles soon! Oh, that’s what I like to hear! Probably because this is a SIMPLIFIED version! But, war was the setting, so anyone the British sided with had to be turned into monsters. We asked them to stop these crimes against us, but they have acted as though they were deaf. Source(s): explain 27 grievances dec independence: https://shortly.im/SCyFY Struggling in their efforts, the rebels relied on an ancient feudal concept based on the reciprocal obligations of the Crown providing protection to its people in exchange for their allegiance. Grievance: “He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.” The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Second Continental Congress, states the reasons the British colonies of North America sought independence in July of 1776. Grievance: “For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences.” Play at matching the Olde English with a simplified translation. When the writer’s of the Declaration wrote “all men were created equal”, they meant it. Henry Mowatt, who carried it out. Grievance: “For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world.” :(((. Jett Conner: “He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us …” is a line substituted by the Congress for Jefferson’s original charge against the king that “He has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery.” Notably, Jefferson’s charge was against the king’s role in the “execrable commerce” of the slave trade and exciting armed rebellion by slaves in the colonies, not slavery itself. Had they been able to do so, any such suspects were to be transported across the Atlantic to England for trial, for the British were rightly suspicious that anyone indicted would be found innocent by the local courts that were so friendly to colonial citizens. Grievance: “He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.” This made everything so much simpler. Finally, on the 4th of July, the Declarationtheir approbation. Bryan Rindfleisch: For Native American communities, the Declaration of Independence – particularly the final grievance – means something very different from other Americans today. Declaration of Independence, included a list of grievances directed at the male-led government. But even though the Declaration of Independence only applied to some people, it was a very important statement of the idea that everybody has rights. What makes you think there are more? The Americans should also not have been surprised by the British trying to turn the slaves against them. This document sets forth our justification to the world. Where the Declaration says “The king of England has done many bad things to us – here is a list:” after that, those are the complaints. But none were found; in Rhode terms, “nobody knew nuttin’“ and the Star court of Inquiry (which bypassed the standing judicial system within the colony) was not able to find anyone to indict. But in North America, the British military dissolved the assemblies – and the populace exploded. Start studying 27 Usurpations of the Declaration of Independence (Simplified Versions). Declaration of Independence – Part Two (The Grievances) [Numbers Added] 1. JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION © 2018. We didn’t leave any out. Years later, Pres. Grievance: “He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.” The condition of the parchment Declaration of Independence is a sign of the place it has held in the hearts of many Americans. of Independence was agreed to, engrossed on paper, signed by John Hancock as president, and directed to be sent to the sev- He sends people accused of crimes far away to England for their trials. Declaration of Independence (simplified) – United States. As the founding document of the United States, the Declaration lumps all Native Americans together as “merciless Indian Savages” and frames them as enemies of the new nation-state, despite indigenous groups like the Oneida, Catawba, Stockbridge-Mohican, St. Francis Abenaki, among others, who supported the revolutionaries, not to mention individual towns/communities among the Muskogee (Creek), Onondaga, Tuscarora, Chickasaw, Shawnee, Delaware, and many others. People should not change their government without a good reason, so people usually suffer as long as they can under the government they have, rather than change it. So the offender went to court, but his fate was in the hands of the judge, not a jury. We were thinking of the four corners of the world - four Quarters. My ideas of how human society works come through in my interpretations, but they don’t affect the facts, which are the same for everybody. “When Thomas Jefferson helped write the Declaration…” is a curious take on the authorship of the Document. Spell. this is confusing what are the complaints. What else was to be expected? Coming to you from Portland, Oregon.” But most of what you have here is tendentious – an argument carefully constructed to sound convincing while avoiding facts that might support the other side. The grievance, I believe, was completely unnecessary. Declaration of Independence Grievances. All men are created equal. Even when we do pass laws, he won’t sign them so they can go into effect. Self-evident truths: all men are created equal. The Declaration of Independence is among other things a compilation of twenty seven grievances against the British Crown. Things changed over the course of the next year, however, as Britain attempted to crush the rebels with all the force of its great army. By the end of the American Revolution, slavery had proven unprofitable in the North and was actually dying out. What were you trying to find out? We wanted a name that would be ours and nobody else's. Maybe I can help. Grievance: “For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies.” Good question! Looking for a Halloween costume? We want you to know why things happened, how that matters today, and what you can do about it. In his message to Parliament in October 1775, King George III railed against the rebellious colonies and o… Declaration of Sentiments, document, outlining the rights that American women should be entitled to as citizens, that emerged from the Seneca Falls Convention in New York in July 1848. Thanks. But of course, it would also be impossible to receive a fair trial in England either, where no supporting witnesses would likely be available. Journal of the American Revolution also produces annual hardcover volumes, a branded book series, and the podcast, Dispatches. The Declaration is divided into three main sections: a preamble, a list of grievances, and a conclusion: . Don Glickstein: The Declaration’s grievances contain an impressive base of facts, mixed into a pot of propaganda, seasoned with hypocrisy, and served boiling hot. I’ve marked off the beginning and end of the Declaration now with dotted lines, so maybe it won’t be so confusing. Although the committee and later the full Congress edited the draft excising some of Jefferson’s hyperbole, the principles he articulated in the Preamble were not materially changed. We’re working on it! Jefferson himself probably did not see the Native Americans as savage or merciless, and he was fascinated with their culture. The King sends lots of English soldiers here when there isn’t even a war, and makes us let them live in our own houses. Your email address will not be published. Tom Shachtman: This was a beef central to the Declaration for merchants, ship-owners, and seamen who worked for them; it had been beautifully articulated earlier by Thomas Paine in a paragraph that Adam Smith could have written: that to a trading country, freedom of trade was “of such importance, that the principal source of wealth depends on it; and it is impossible that any country can flourish … whose commerce is … fettered by laws of another …. Grievance: “For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments.” I’d be happy to help, Jay. Grievance: “For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us.” Graves was soon replaced and retired; Mowatt’s subsequent service career was strained and advancement stymied, all tinged by that October act of retribution. It has been said that “the Declaration of Independence was the promise; the Constitution was the fulfillment.” More than 200 years ago, our Founding Open to your sponsorships, link exchanges, or just friendly talk about history. Jason Yonce: The colonial charters played a massive role in the decision to declare independence but we’ve lost the context. William Goodrich, but one of their own, Jehoiakim Yokun, was also called captain. Those looking towards westward expansion now had to deal with a foreign (French) system of government managed by former enemies. America’s answer to the important question of whether the military should be independent of civil authority has been NO! The same colonists who objected to this idea did notobject when the same troops put down Pontiac’s Rebellion in 1763, or the Cherokee revolt in 1761. Historians have noted the similarities with John Locke's works and the context of the grievances. Don N. Hagist: Many of the grievances focus on issues that occurred after the burning of HMS Gaspeein 1772, the first of a series of tit-for-tat escalations by both sides. The only widely known incident that Thomas Jefferson could be referencing is the trial of the Boston Massacre perpetrators. We asked our contributors to choose one and tell us something about it. A declaration to that effect was, on the same and the following days, taken into fur-ther consideration. Years of public display have faded and worn this treasured document. Thanks, Keelin! It’s well known that Jefferson was one of five delegated to write a justification for severing out ties with Britain, that John Adams insisted that Jefferson should write the draft which over the course of the next seventeen days he in fact did. John Murray’s promise of freedom to slaves who took up arms for the British. The U.S. Constitution limited military power by allowing Congress to appropriate funds for the armed forces in no more than two years increments. We are about to do something drastic and rare in human history. So we think that God will see that we are doing the right thing when we declare that the United States are now completely independent of the King of England. In truth, England never withdrew its protection, but it has served as a convenient argument to justify rebellion. For all you readers here, be cautious when reading one’s interpretation of a historical document when they use phrases such as “rich white men”, “poor, women, black people”, “Christians”. Even if the information is disturbing or full of malice, we can’t change that. Karen_Shank. They wanted to explain why they were fighting to be their own country, independent of England. On the other hand, all of the people involved in writing the Declaration were rich white men. The Declaration of Independence in Modern English still carries the same meaning, but would sound a little differently. The warriors wore war paint and lived with their wives and children. Most of my cousins live in Michigan. This is what they had to say (but in easier words). I wish I could meet a few of are founding fathers and pick their archaic brains. Dwight D. Eisenhower warned against the unwarranted influence of the military industrial complex. Historian Pauline Maier wrote, “George III’s hiring of German soldiers to fight the colonists was cited almost everywhere and seems to have been decisive in alienating large numbers of colonists from the crown.”. Authority for Declaration stated to be Laws of Nature and Nature's God.. 2. See Pauline Maier, American Scripture, page 118. Write. Even so, without the change, the Declaration likely would not have been approved by the Congress. Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. And we promise that we will fight for our independence with the help of God – we promise by our lives, our property, and our sacred honor. Anyone who claims otherwise is not unbiased but just hiding their biases. Sometimes one group of people decide to split off from another group, and to become an independent country, as the laws of Nature and of God say that they can. free and independent States, was adopted. It put land speculators and others interesting in moving into the Ohio Valley at a disadvantage against the existing French habitants. We are about to do something drastic and rare in human history. This put a huge impediment in place to thwart legal westward migration. The Declaration of Sentiments, modeled on the U.S. Eric Sterner: The vast bulk of the reasons for declaring independence relate to political thought and self-government. Grievance: “He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.” Key Concepts: Terms in this set (28) He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. Connor Runyan: Should I have worn the crown of a British monarch, this grievance would have greatly confounded me. PLAY. Remember, many of signers of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution have origins and life experiences from England, where slavery was accepted, and then later outlawed, as should be. When Thomas Jefferson helped write the Declaration he included this item that had directly lead the Virginia House of Burgess to reestablish the Standing Intercolonial Committees of Correspondence. So far, 100 articles have found sponsors - 2400 more sponsors needed! If you tell your teacher so they can link to us, that would help us to reach more students like you! Women’s rights activists held … If the people sent a letter to England charging the king. So we have to separate from England, and they will be our enemies during the war, though we hope they’ll be our friends when there is peace. But the King’s hiring of “barbarous” German soldiers to kill his own subjects may have been the tipping point for some Americans. More great articles/no distracting ads? Geoff Smock: This grievance complained about the Quebec Act, which abolished “the free System of English Laws” there, established “an arbitrary government” comprised of officers serving only at the pleasure of the king, and enlarged its borders into western lands that colonists coveted – rendering “an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies.” Essentially, Quebec foreshadowed what the American colonies would look like when most of the other grievances listed in the Declaration were taken together – the suspending of colonial legislatures, controlling the actions of colonial governors, creating new crown-appointed offices, etc. Rather than embrace my benevolence, as was customary throughout the Empire, you insulted your King. That is why you should just cite the evidence, not change it, All history is written by people with some intention in mind. Moreover, the rebels tried hard to recruit their own Indian nations; they failed because of the colonists’ rapacious appetite for stealing and squatting on Indian land. Thank you Darrell! Why are there only 14 things the “he” did wrong while there are more in the actual declaration of independence? The hypocrisy of fighting a war for liberty while practicing slavery led the drafting committee to water down Jefferson’s original language and apply it to Loyalists as well, an early example of subordinating American ideals to practical concerns, and one of its foundational flaws. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. In reality, there was little slavery at the time of the Revolution. The American response to this usurping of the colonies’ own court systems was robustly opposed by leading politicians within America. Required fields are marked *. January 8, 2021. We were thinking of Questions, and Quick, and Quality. The Declaration of Independence included twenty-seven specific grievances about the conduct of the King and British government. Any good American should know this famous line in 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.\" - \"He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.\" - \"He has endeavoured to prevent the … By paraphrase I meant to say in your own words (btw im a highschool freshmen and im taking civics as my history class) Please paraphrase it in the simplest and most understandable way possible. Send all your ideas! January was an exciting launch month for us. So whenever any government is getting in the way of these rights, people have the right to change it or get rid of it, and to make a new government, in whatever way seems most likely to make them safe and happy. But when there have been a lot of problems for a long time, it is their right and their duty to throw off that government, and to set up a better government. That’s exactly my goal! Charles H. Lagerbom: The reference to “burnt our towns” refers to Mowatt’s attack on Falmouth(present-day Portland, Maine) and is one of the more devastating accusations levelled against King George III and Great Britain. We asked our contributors to choose one and tell us something about it. United States Declaration of Independence is an important document in the history of the United States of America.It was ratified on July 4, 1776. The Declaration of Independence is one of the world's most important documents. Just $1.00, with daily blog posts! We here in America have suffered for a very long time, and now we should change our government. It’s hard to overstate the strength of the idea of Englishness and the belief that these rights had immemorial origins. The Declaration of Independence included twenty-seven specific grievances about the conduct of the King and British government. As such, John Concannon’s characterization of Jefferson as merely having “helped write the Declaration” appears calculated to revise history to diminish or even deny the fact that he was the principle author and should be recognized as such. Direct descendant from my Dad's side of the family. Grievance: “For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States.” One of the first laws enacted under the new U.S. Constitution was a national immigration policy. In short, Native American communities today have a very different outlook on, and relationship with, the Declaration of Independence. Go ahead and ask, Ethan, and I’ll try to answer it. But when this happens, if they want other people to respect them, they should explain why they are splitting off. Or could you just provide me a link that answers my question? The Declaration of Independence is one of the most important documents in U.S. History and led to the country's independence from Great Britain. Nancy K. Loane: As British citizens, the colonists were familiar with the military reporting to Parliament. This verbiage usually indicative that the writer slants their history in a more ‘liberal’ stance versus historical true context. The King won’t let us choose our own judges, and instead he chooses them all himself, so they’re all on his side. Match. Grievance: “He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.” Will Monk: The idea that the King should not be allowed to send a standing army unless he had permission from a colonial legislature is the most dubious. The Quebec Actwas responsible for keeping Canada loyal to the Crown. Learn. The Declaration of Independence Simplified. Today it is maintained under the most exacting archival conditions possible. Parliament had enlarged the jurisdiction of Admiralty Courts to handle offenses committed against the Stamp Act, and Admiralty Courts do not have juries. The King won’t let us buy and sell things from wherever we want. He calls men together to make laws in the most inconvenient times and places, so that they won’t be able to go discuss the new laws. Let us know in the comments! Quatr.us Study Guides, August 11, 2017. Sign me up! Their careers were never the same afterwards. When researching history, be cautious of what you find on the internet and conduct your ‘due diligence’ in your research through many sources before drawing conclusions. Flashcards. Learn how your comment data is processed. The Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1776, annotated.When in the Course of human events. Gravity. The king immediately ordered them to revoke their claim. The King won’t let new settlers come to America, and he won’t let the settlers take over new land from the. Representatives of all these groups asked to be included, and some white men started out supporting their inclusion, but in the end, only rich white Christian men signed the Declaration of Independence. * __D ECLARATION OF I NDEPENDENCE__ [grievances annotated] IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. Even after the initial battles in the Revolutionary War broke out, few colonists desired complete independence from Great Britain, and those who did–like John Adams– were considered radical. We published a smorgasbord... No mention of the Battle of Kettle Creek, a battle involving Elijah Clarke and the Georgia Refugees. See your first two sentences and the verb choice. In … What’s your project about? The Declaration of Independence is the document that contains the long list of grievances against the king of England. Fifth Grievance "He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people." The twenty-seven grievances in the Declaration of Independence (with numbers added for convenience): One grievance is conspicuous by its omission: the seizure of arms from public magazines. The act basically ruined them. Addressing Grievances from the Declaration of Independence • Examples of grievances addressed through the Constitution: Original Grievance from the Declaraon of Independence How it is addressed in the Constuon “He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.” The President is the Commander in Chief of (In truth, he had likely overstepped his authority). He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. PLEASE help me find a detailed description for each of the 27 grievances against the king in the Declaration of Independence. Does Jefferson repeat some? Declaration of Independence Rephrase Matching Directions: match the original text excerpts with their corresponding, simplified excerpts. The Declaration of Independence was an exciting letter to write – it laid out a lot of new ideas about the rights that all people should have. Really? To read more about this, check out, for example, https://battleoffranklin.wordpress.com/2012/11/07/do-all-historians-have-bias-and-does-it-impact-their-doing-history/. It was signed by sixty-eight women and thirty-two men, including Frederick Douglass. We can only buy things from England. I’d be up for guest posts on your blog, joint Twitter threads, lesson plans, book reviews, or what-have-you. Jim Piecuch: This grievance is spurious at best. Hello, I liked it, but it didn’t really help me with my project. The United States Declaration of Independence contains 27 grievances against the decisions and actions of George III of Great Britain.