On the 4th of July 1776, was adopted by the Second Continental Congress, the American Declaration of Independence, completing the Lee Resolution, that asserted the independence of the Thirteen Colonies. This Declaration proclaimed that the Thirteen British Colonies in North America were 'Free and Independent States' and that 'all political connections between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved.' It is now considered as a founding document for the United States of America (as you know, the 4th of July is celebrated as Independence Day in the United States), and as a turning point in the history of political sciences. To what extent was this Declaration built in reaction against the British rule and society?
[...] Accordingly, the will of independence grew rapidly among Americans. In January 1776, Thomas Paine's Common Sense, a pamphlet preaching for independence and denouncing George III's tyrannical behaviour, was released, and encouraged this popular move toward independence. This pamphlet will have a substantial influence on the future Declaration (right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness). And in June of 1776, the Second Continental Congress asked 5 representatives (Franklin for Pennsylvania, Jefferson for Virginia, Adams for massachusetts, Livingston for New York and Sherman for Connecticut, to write a declaration of independence, after the failure of a first draft, the Lee Resolution, which wasn't voted by all the colonies. [...]
[...] This act was, as its main inspirer Jefferson acknowledges, “not supposed to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before thought of but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent, and to justify (the members of the Congress) in the independent stand (they) are compelled to take”. Consequences of this declaration on the American Revolution and further This act reinforced and galvanized Americans in their rebellion, for it exposed clearly the reasons to oppose the British. But it had also a decisive role in the conflict, since, after this act claimed the independence of the United States, it was not a civil war anymore, but an independence war and foreign powers were allowed by international law to intervene. [...]
[...] Influence on law, with the developpment of the idea of natural right It has been said that the American Revolution was protecting the British inheritance as much as asserting an American future. Indeed, throughout this Declaration of Independence, both sides of the Revolution can be seen: it seems that this act was reaffirming old principles of liberal government, such as natural rights, refusal of tyranny or importance of parliamentary representation, rather than creating an American identity and way of thinking. The Declaration of Independence and its authors can be seen as the agents of a mission of defense of liberty that had been left aside by George III. [...]
[...] In response to this event were issued the Intolerable Acts in 1774, which put the government of Massachussets under direct control of the King, and installed a special jurisdiction for British troops, who could be rejudged for their offences in other colonies or even in England. The colonists were also forced by the Quartering Act to take care of the permanent troops sent to America. The Americans set up a shadow government in each state as their relations with Britain became strained. These governments were linked together by a Continental Congress and committees of Correspondence. [...]
[...] This spirit of freedom and liberalism later spread around the world, influencing the french Revolution among others, and is still a leitmotiv in American politics today. Bibliography _ American Scripture, making the Declaration of Independence, Pauline Maier _ From the Declaration of Independence to the Constitution: the roots of American Constitutionalism, Carl Friedrich & Robert McGloskey _ La creation de la République Américaine, Gordon S. [...]
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