The United States Declaration of Independence is one of the most revered, protected and well-known documents in the history of America, few Americans know about its existence.
How it all began?
For a long time, the territory of the United States was a colony of the Queen of England, which did not suit the freedom-loving people. Tension and dissatisfaction of citizens gradually increased, and in 1775 the Second Continental Congress was convened in Philadelphia, at which it was decided to create an independent American army and break off relations with England and declare war on freedom. George Washington was elected Commander-in-Chief , who showed himself to be a wonderful and determined commander, ready to fight until the final liberation of his people.
The United States Declaration of Independence of 1776 marked the beginning of the War of Independence, which seven years later led to its logical conclusion - the signing of the Paris Peace Treaty. Every year on the fourth of July in the USA it is celebrated on a grand scale, paying tribute to the date with which the free and independent life of the American people began.
The author of the US Declaration of Independence, a young congressman and an active champion of independence, Thomas Jefferson, it was his ideas inspired by the French Revolution that formed the basis of the world-famous document. In addition to him, the commission entrusted with the creation of the declaration included J. Adams, R. R. Livingston, B. Franklin and R. Sherman.
For seventeen days, the commission worked on the text of a legendary document, scientific treatises or similar documents of other states were not used for writing, all provisions were drawn up on the basis of the requirements and needs of the people of America.
The United States Declaration of Independence is the first document that spelled out the rights of citizens and the fundamental principles of democracy, the most important of which was the political power emanating from the people, protecting the interests of all Americans.
It is interesting that initially one of the points of the document was a provision providing for the abolition of slavery, however, the planters and tenants who represented the majority in Congress voted for its exclusion.
56 people put their signatures on the declaration. Dickinson, Jay and Livingston, in protest against the exclusion of the slavery provision, refused to do so.
The fate of all 56 people who have left their signatures on the Declaration has developed in different ways - someone is tragic, someone else, on the contrary, is excellent. Five people were captured and executed by the British as traitors. Nine signatories died from wounds during the war, most lost their families and property.
It is interesting that two authors, T. Jefferson and J. Adams, who later became presidents of the country, died exactly half a century after the adoption of a significant document - on the fourth of July 1826.
Despite the fact that Jefferson and his associates were not able to defend the rights of slaves and give them freedom, along with the rest of the countries where the institution of slavery remained, the declaration of US independence was the most progressive document. She legalized the rights and freedoms of most citizens of the country.
The United States Declaration of Independence after almost two hundred and fifty years does not cease to amaze its people. In two thousand and ten, American scientists discovered new lines of the original version that were previously corrected. An analysis of the text of the document showed that the people of the United States in the declaration were called "subjects", but subsequently this word was erased and replaced with a freer "citizens." Thus, with the exception of citizenship from the main document of the country, the sheet of colonialism of the United States was turned over.