Student Name: Pranav Kasi
FAD: Declaration of Independence Assignment
Ideals of Democracy Analytical Reading
Source Analysis
Before You Read
Political scientists analyze founding documents for ways that they relate to our government today. They
focus less on the historical situation and more on how the principles established in the documents were used
to create our governmental structures.
As you prepare to read the Declaration of Independence from a political science perspective, take a moment
and think about what some of the main themes in the Declaration mean to you. When you think about our
government, how do you think these principles relate?
Use the task verbs to guide your responses for each item.
1. What individual rights I believe a government should provide the people with general rights such
should a government protect as privacy, right to own property, right to work, political rights, as well as life
for its people? and liberty.
2. What government should A government should provide the people with necessities such as
provide for the people? protection (Law Enforcement), public education, healthcare, and
transportation services as well.
3. How the people hold A nations literacy rate and general happiness are all reflected by the
government accountable? government in that area. The people should have a say in the government
and even be able to run to be a part of the branches of the government.
After all, the government is there for the people.
Required Document:
Excerpts from The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson (for a committee)
Paired with:
Excerpts from Second Treatise of Civil Government by John Locke
Related Concepts:
● Purpose of Government
● Natural Rights
● Social Contract Theory
● Balance Between Liberty and Order
The Declaration of Independence
As you read the text, consider how the author develops an argument for independence that reflects his
perspective on the nature and purpose of government. Try to identify the evidence he uses to support his
argument. Think about how Jefferson defines rights and how government relates to those rights.
Second Continental Congress, July 4, 1776
In Congress, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands
which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and
equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions
of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
Check Your Understanding
4. Use the space below the first paragraph to rewrite what Jefferson is saying in your own words.
It may be necessary to break political associations in the face of human events. The colonies want to be
separate from England and it is proper to declare the reasons for this separation. (Leads to rest of
Declaration of Independence).
Academic Vocabulary
5. Find the phrase “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” in this paragraph. Use context clues within the text
to determine what Jefferson means.
This line means there are certain rights and morals that are universal in which all humans should follow.
Source Analysis
6. Add the phrase in the paragraph that explains why Jefferson wrote this document.
“a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel
them to the separation.”
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.
7. What were the specific rights that Jefferson outlines in the section.
The right to Life, Liberty (Freedom), and being able to pursue happiness. These are describes as
“unalienable rights”; these are undeniable, since they are given by the Creator (God).
8. Describe one way in which Jefferson’s description of rights relates to your understanding of the American
governmental system.
The American government has a system of law enforcement to protect the citizen’s right to life. There
also exists a Judicial system to prosecute those who put others in danger and threaten to break this right.
—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.
9. What does Jefferson mean by Liberty in this context?
In this context Jefferson uses Liberty to represent the right of individuals to be free from oppression on
their way of life such as their way of life, behavior, and even their political views.
10. Describe one characteristic of government that Jefferson mentions.
One characteristic of the government that Jefferson mentions is that it is “the Right of the People to alter
or to abolish it”. Essentially saying the government is there for the people and if it is failing, they should
have the right to alter it or be a part of it and fix it as they see fit.
11. Explain one claim Jefferson makes about the purpose of government.
Thomas Jefferson believed the main job of government is to protect the rights of the people, like their
right to live, to be free, and to try to be happy. He said that a government should only have power
because the people it governs agree to it. If the government stops protecting these rights, Jefferson said
that the people have the right to change it or create a new one that will.
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. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which
constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.
The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct
object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid
world.
12. According to Jefferson, under what conditions are the people justified in throwing off a government?
If the government fails to protect the people’s basic rights and enforce their laws. Furthermore, if the
government becomes oppressive and starts abusing power, the people have the right to take charge and
make changes as they see fit for the betterment of the people of the United States.
13. What does the text tell us about Jefferson’s perspective on government?
Jefferson believes a governance such as the King of Great Britain causes “injuries and usurpations.” To
prevent this suffering Jefferson believes a government in which the people have the ability to control and
be a part of, is far more effective.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their
operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them….
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions
have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define
a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people….
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the
Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People
of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and
Independent States; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection
between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved . . .
14. Jefferson names a series of grievances or complaints against the King. How does this list relate to Jefferson’s
earlier assertions about the nature and purpose of government?
The series of grievances provides a list of how Great Britain has failed to protect the rights of the people
and American colonies.
15. How does Jefferson use these grievances as evidence to support his claim?
Jefferson uses these grievances to show how the British Crown have failed in their way of governance.
The people nor the economy is properly being maintained. He claims the “Tyrant is unfit to be the ruler
of a free people.”
Thinking Like a Political Scientist
16. Based on the reading, describe two characteristics Jefferson applies to a government.
1. Jefferson says that the people should have a say in who governs them. Specifically referring to
the democratic process where the people choose a president, in charge of the executive branch.
2. Jefferson also says that the government should be the protector of the unalienable rights of
people. The government should exist to ensure life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in
America.
17. What traits does Jefferson use to describe bad government?
Jefferson refers to a history of repeated abuse and constant suffering caused by Britain. He calls the
king’s reign a tyranny and that this does not sufficiently govern the states.
18. What was Jefferson’s claim and what evidence did he use to support his claim?
Thomas Jefferson's central claim in the Declaration of Independence is that the colonies had the right to
be independent because the British government, and specifically King George III, had violated the rights
of the colonists. The evidence he used to support this is a list of grievances from the colonies of the kings
governance.
19. What line of reasoning is Jefferson using to structure his argument - causation or comparison? How do
you know?
In the Declaration, Jefferson uses a causation line of reasoning. His argument is founded on the series of
abuses by the British that led to colonies wanting to become independent.
20. How does the evidence used by Jefferson relate to and support the claim?
The evidence Jefferson uses relates to and supports the central claim of the Declaration of
Independence by showing the specific ways in which the King violated the rights of the colonies.
Jefferson's claim is that the colonies have the right to be independent because the British government
has failed to protect their rights and instead has acted like a tyrant.