Declaration of Independence

According to the Declaration of Independence who institutes or creates governments?

• The King

• The People

• The Pope

• The President

According to the Declaration of Independence, where does government get its power from?

• The King

• Religion

• The People

• The President

Who was the main author of the Declaration of Independence?

• Benjamin Franklin

• Samuel Adams

• Thomas Jefferson

• Paul Revere

Which quotation from the Declaration of Independence best supports the main purpose of a nation's government.

• We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all mean 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...

• ...[To] secure these rights , governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...

• ...[G}overnments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath show, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable,than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

• ...[A]s free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do.

Which of the following is the central idea put forth in the Declaration of Independence?

• The American people will fight to the death to protect themselves from attacks by Britain.

• The American colonies are justified in rejecting British rule and setting up a new government.

• The people of Great Britain should claim their own independence from the rule of the current king.

• Americans who support the idea of independence from Great Britain greatly outnumber those who do not.

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.

Which argument most logically follows from Jefferson's expressed ideas in the Declaration of Independence?

• The rights of men should be supported over those of women.

• Monarchy is a bad form of government because rulers

  are not elected.

• All forms of government destroy human rights and should be abandoned.

• Any form of government that suppresses people's freedoms should be overthrown.

From the Declaration of Independence, what can a reader infer about Jefferson's general attitude toward revolution?

• Revolution is a method of last resort.

• All cases of injustice justify a revolution.

• People often revolt as their first course of action.

• Revolution is a very poor way of dealing with conflict.

According to the Declaration of Independence, which of the following statements are among the reasons the colonies determined to break away from British rule? Choose three options.

• The majority of Americans were not ethnically or culturally British.

• Britain was guilty of many recent abuses of its power in the colonies.

• The American and British armies had already clashed on the battlefield.

• Britain interfered with the operation of the legislatures in the various colonies.

• The British was too weak and undisciplined to effectively protect the colonies.

The Declaration of Independence states that independence has become "necessary" and that Americans "should declare the causes which impel them to the separation." Which of the following statements best expresses the point Jefferson makes with this language?

• Jefferson suggest that foreign allies have urged Congress to declare independence.

• Jefferson emphasizes that America has been forced into declaring its independence.

• Jefferson implies that Britain fully approves of Congress's decision to declare independence.

• Jefferson explains that America never considered any action other than declaring independence.