The Declaration of Independence

Why was the Declaration of Independence written?

• to start the American Revolution

• to offer a peace settlement to Great Britain

• to instruct how a country wins its freedom

• to explain why the colonies were separating from Great Britain

How do natural rights, as described in the Declaration of Independence, differ from other rights?

• People are born with natural rights.

• People can vote to choose natural rights.

• Natural rights are given only to citizens.

• Natural rights come from the government.

In a draft of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson charged the king with violating the “sacred rights of life and liberty . . . of a distant people [by] carrying them into slavery.” This passage was removed for all of these reasons except

• it might lead to demands to free slaves.

• it was an unimportant issue in the colonies

• it was unfair to blame the king for enslaving Africans.

• it might offend merchants & slave owners who profited from the slave trade.

According to Thomas Jefferson, the power to rule comes from

• God.

• the king.

• Parliament.

• the governed.

Why did Thomas Jefferson say that King George III was an unfit ruler?

• He was not born in Great Britain.

• He denied the colonists their rights.

• He was not elected by Parliament.

• He lived far away from the colonies.

"That whenever any form of government becomes destructive in protecting the rights and responding to the people, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government..." This excerpt from the Declaration means...

• the people can create a new government if the present government is not doing what the people want.

• the people must accept the government for what it is.

• the people are powerless against tyranny.

• the people must love the king.

Thomas Jefferson's ideas on natural rights came from

• Baron de Montesquieu

• Thomas Hobbes

• John Locke

• Votaire

Jefferson refers to the King as a __________ for abusing his power.

• decent fellow

• tyrant

• irrelevant monarch

• homie

According to Jefferson, the number one job of government was

• taxing citizens

• fighting wars

• building colonies

• protecting peoples rights

To Great Britain, the signing of the Declaration of Independence was

• an act of loyalty.

• an act of treason.

• an act of bravery.

• an act of insanity.