Declaration of Independence

drafted by Jefferson with help from Adams and Franklin

provides a foundation for popular sovereignty

represented separation from England

By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain.

Throughout the 1760s and early 1770s, the North American colonists found themselves increasingly at odds with British imperial policies regarding taxation and frontier policy

Despite these changes, colonial leaders hoped to reconcile with the British Government, and all but the most radical members of Congress were unwilling to declare independence.

"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."

"Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed"

"....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"

Why would it be important for the decision to separate from Britain to be unanimous?

What words show how the colonists feel about Britain and the king?