GED Practice Test 6

Explaining a Break: The Declaration of Independence

By the summer of 1776, fighting between American colonists and British troops had been going on for more than a year. Many colonists still hoped to settle their disputes with Great Britain, but others had concluded that reconciliation was no longer possible. In June, the Second Continental Congress appointed a committee to draft a formal statement explaining why the colonies were breaking away. Thomas Jefferson wrote most of the first draft, which other members of the committee and of Congress then revised. The finished Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776.

The document had more than one audience. It was meant to unite colonists who were still divided about independence, and it was also addressed to foreign governments, such as France, whose help the colonies needed. To win that support, the authors had to show that the break was not a reckless act of rebellion but a reasoned response to serious wrongs. The second paragraph of the Declaration, excerpted below, lays out the principles on which the authors based their case. In the full document, a long list of specific complaints against the British king follows it.

"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.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from 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. 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. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

Source: Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Second Continental Congress, July 4, 1776 (excerpt from the second paragraph). Public domain.