THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

On June 7, 1776, Henry Lee of Virginia made a motion at the meeting of the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. His motion proposed that American colonies should be considered independent states, that foreign relations should begin with other countries, and that a confederate form of government be prepared for future discussion by the colonies. It was decided that the motion would be voted on July I (giving delegates time to win the resistant middle colonies over). In the meantime, one committee worked on a potential constitution, while another was appointed to write a declaration of independence. This committee gave the job of writing the first draft to Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson was a perfect choice: He was a student of the thinkers of the Enlightenment and other thinkers of the era.

Jefferson’s argument maintained that men had certainly "unalienable rights," which included “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Jefferson stated that when a government “becomes destructive of these ends” those who live under it can revolt against it and create a government that gets its “just powers from the consent of the governed.” Jefferson also listed many things the British had done that were oppressive to the colonies. Unlike others who had criticized certain ministers or Parliament, Jefferson personally blamed George III for many of these misdeeds. This document was formally approved on July 2, 1776; this approval was formally announced on July 4.