Declaration of Independence is an important document in the American history since it announced the independence of thirteen American colonies. The document was primarily drafted by Thomas Jefferson back in July 1776 and explained the reason why the congress had declared independence from Great Britain.
Up to date, America celebrates its day of independence on 4th July, the day when the congress approved the Declaration of Independence (Becker, 2008). With that background in mind, this essay shall discuss more concerning the Declaration of Independence and also its significance to the world history.
As highlighted in the introductory part, declaration for independence was written as a formal document directed to the government. Although it is written in a simple language, it contains some philosophical arguments as well. The first part of the document act as a thesis statement illustrating that the Americans have a right to declare independence. The body of the document is basically the declaration of rights and lastly the conclusion is a declaration proper as illustrated in the studies of Rogers, (n.d.).
The main reason why the declaration for independence was written was to declare the convictions of Americans especially towards their rights. Americans felt that the British government was denying them some of their rights and was ruling them in an inappropriate manner.
Therefore, the main aim was to declare the necessity for independence especially to the colonists as well as to state their view and position on the purpose of the government. In addition, apart from making their grievances known to King George iii, they also wanted to influence other foreigners like the France to support them in their struggle towards independence.
The document contains a number of grievances directed to the British government as well as some philosophical arguments. The self evident truths in the declaration of independence are that all men are created equal and do also have some rights which ought not to be withheld at all costs. In addition, the document also illustrated that government is formed for the sole purpose of protecting those rights as it is formed by the people who it governs.
The document also contains some truths which are either individual or collective like right to life as well as right to be free and happy. Unalienable rights means rights which cannot be denied since they are given by God. Apart from individual rights, there are also collective rights like the right of people to choose the right government and also to abolish it incase it fails achieve its goal (Morgan, 2010).
The Declaration of Independence ended up influencing the world history in several ways. History illustrates that other declaration of independence which followed closely in places like Greece, Liberia and Hungary were similar to the United States Declaration of Independence.
The document contributed greatly to the development of democracy in the whole world and to movements which were fighting for the rights of citizens as well as for the rights of particular nations. Therefore, it is right to conclude that the declaration of independence in United States was not only significant in American but also in the whole world.
References
Becker, C. L. (2008). The Declaration of Independence: a study in the history of political ideas. Illinois: Bibliobazaar, LLC
Morgan, K. L. (2010). The Declaration of Independence, Equality and Unalienable Rights. Web.
Rogers, T. Declaration of Independence. Web.