Ms. Nicoll History Unit 1 

 
Name: Yossi Moff 

Date: September 7, 2017 

Class: 8th Grade - US History 

 
Slides and Notes
 
Topic Student Notes

The Declaration of Independence 

Title 
Unit 1: Lesson 2 

Analyze the philosophy of government expressed in the 

Main Idea  Declaration of Independence​, with an emphasis on 
government as a means of securing individual rights.  

- 1774, Americans were fed up (giving them taxes) 

- The king put out the Coercive Acts, attempting to 
get the Americans back in line 
- Made it even worse for the king 
Background 
- Traitorous act, resistance 
Information 
- First government for the US was not the 
Constitution, but the Continental Congress 
- First formal independence that the Americans 
formed 

- Second Continental Congress was formed the next 

year (1775) 
- Created during the Revolutionary War 
The Second - Wanted to formally write their laws down 
Continental - Committee of people wrote the Declaration of 
Congress Independence 
- 1776, sent it to king (officially started the 
war) 
- Thomas Jefferson was the main author 

- ~5 years later, realized that the continental 

congress is not sufficient 
- Wrote a new government called the Articles of 
Then what? 
Confederation 
- First attempt at creating branches 
- Replaced by the current Constitution in 1789 

 
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Ms. Nicoll History Unit 1 

- Had the Bill of Rights 

- ‘The Declaration of Independence formally 

What is important 
announced the colonies’ break from Great Britain 
to remember? 
- Second CC approved DoI on July 4, 1776 

Equal, unalienable, life, liberty, happiness, governments, 

Declaration of
men, consent, destructive, abolish, new government, 
Independence
safety 

- Jefferson’s writing was influenced by John Locke’s 

thoughts 
- Jefferson replaced property (from Locke) with 
pursuit of happiness 
Philosophy of 
- Locke argued that just governments 
Government 
- Based on consent of people 
- Protects people’s natural rights 
- Must be changed or replaced if they become 
unfair 

- English philosopher before Locke 

- Must create a social contract 
Wait! What about  - Considered foundational for most Western 
Thomas Hobbes  political philosophy 
- Everybody agrees on specific rules 
- Montesquieu and Rousseau 

- All men possess ‘certain unalienable rights’ 

Key Points of the 
- Life (can’t take someone’s life), liberty 
Declaration of
(freedom), happiness (unless harmful to 
Independence
others) 

- “To secure these rights, Governments are 

instituted among Men” 
- Job of government is to protect the rights 
Key Points of the  listed above 
Declaration of - “Whenever any Form of Government becomes 
Independence  destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the 
People to alter or abolish it” 
- If government doesn’t protect rights, government 
must be changed or removed 

- The right to live 

Jefferson argued 
- The right to have freedom (or liberty) 
for... 
- The right to pursue happiness 

 
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Ms. Nicoll History Unit 1 

- King George III had violated the colonists’ 

unalienable rights 
Jefferson also  - Listed more than 25 violations 
argued that…   - Unfair laws 
- Unfair taxation 
- Putting armies inside people’s houses 

- Social contract 
- Colonies have right to break away from Great 
Britain 
And, finally, 
- Because GB broke the social contract 
Jefferson argued 
- GB wasn’t protecting citizens unalienable 
for... 
rights 
- Obligation for colonists to break away from 
GB because they broke the social contract 
 

 
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