Declaration of Independence Study Guide and Questions

• Overview
• Background
• Declaration of Independence Study Questions
• Text
• Quiz

Use the following sources to learn more about the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, and the road to Revolution:

• Jefferson's Declaration of Independence
• Founding Brothers
• The Signers of the Declaration of Independence
• Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson
• For fun watch National Treasure

For Further Reading:

• More on mercantilism from the Columbia Encyclopedia
• The Royal Proclamation of 1763
• The Sugar Act
• The Currency Act of 1764
• The Quartering Act
• The Stamp Act
• Resolutions of the Stamp Act Congress
• Sons of Liberty: Patriots or Terrorists?
• Townshend Duties
• The Boston Massacre
• The Sons of Liberty and Committees of Correspondence
• The Tea Act
• The Boston Tea Party
• Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress
• The Second Continental Congress
• The Battle of Bunker/Breed's Hill
• The Hessians
• Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"

Declaration of Independence Study Questions

1. Why have some called the Declaration of Independence a lawyer's brief?
2. John Locke wrote about the natural rights of man including the right to life, liberty, and property. Why did Thomas Jefferson change property to the pursuit of happiness in the Declaration text?
3. Even though many of the grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence resulted from acts of Parliament, why would the founders have addressed all of them to King George III?
4. The original draft of the Declaration had admonitions against the British people. Why do you think that those were left out of the final version?

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