====== Declaration of Independence ====== The Declaration of Independence is a formal statement adopted by the Second Continental Congress on 4 July 1776, in which the thirteen British colonies in North America announced their separation from Great Britain and articulated the political principles they held to justify that act. The document was primarily drafted by Thomas Jefferson, with revisions contributed by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and other members of the Congress. It is among the most cited political documents in modern history and serves as a foundational text of the United States of America. The Declaration is conventionally divided into four parts: a preamble stating the purpose of the document; a philosophical section asserting natural rights and the theory of legitimate government; a list of grievances against King George III; and a formal declaration of independence. The grievance list includes a reference to "Indian Savages," a phrase that has attracted scholarly and political attention; see [[declaration-of-independence-indian-savages-controversy|Declaration of Independence — "Indian Savages" Controversy]]. The philosophical section, which holds that all men are created equal and endowed with unalienable rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, has been the subject of sustained interpretive debate regarding its intended scope, its relationship to the institution of slavery, and its implications for later political movements. See [[declaration-of-independence-debate|Declaration of Independence — Viewpoints Debate]] for competing interpretations. The document was engrossed on parchment and signed by 56 delegates over the following weeks, with most signatures affixed on 2 August 1776. The original engrossed copy is held by the National Archives in Washington, D.C. See [[declaration-of-independence-text|Full Text of the Declaration of Independence]]. For the events leading to the drafting and adoption of the Declaration, including the breakdown of relations between the colonies and the Crown, see [[declaration-of-independence-history|Declaration of Independence — History]]. ===== Current State of Knowledge ===== Historians broadly agree on the document's authorship, dating, and immediate political context. The extent of Jefferson's intellectual debts — to John Locke, Algernon Sidney, and Scottish Enlightenment thinkers among others — is well documented in the scholarly literature, though the relative weight of these influences remains a subject of ongoing discussion. The relationship between the Declaration's equality language and the practice of chattel slavery, including Jefferson's own slaveholding, is an active area of historical and philosophical inquiry. See [[declaration-of-independence-slavery-debate|Declaration of Independence and Slavery — Debate]]. The legal status of the Declaration within the American constitutional order is contested; it is not itself a source of enforceable law, though courts and political actors have periodically invoked its language. See [[declaration-of-independence-legal-status-debate|Declaration of Independence Legal Status — Debate]]. ===== Consensus Status ===== Broad scholarly consensus exists on the documentary record: authorship, dates, signatories, and the intellectual tradition from which the text draws. No consensus exists on contested interpretive questions regarding the intended scope of the equality clause, the document's applicability to excluded groups at the time of its drafting, or its proper role in contemporary legal and political argument. See [[declaration-of-independence-historical-consensus|Declaration of Independence — Historical Consensus]]. ===== Viewpoints ===== **[[declaration-of-independence-natural-rights-viewpoint|Natural Rights Reading]]** — The Declaration is understood as a straightforward application of Lockean natural rights theory, asserting universal, pre-political rights against which the legitimacy of any government may be measured. **[[declaration-of-independence-founding-contradiction-viewpoint|Founding Contradiction Reading]]** — The Declaration's equality language is viewed as fundamentally undermined by the slaveholding and exclusions that characterized the founding, as well as the exclusion of women and non-property-holders from political life. **[[declaration-of-independence-aspirational-viewpoint|Aspirational Reading]]** — The Declaration is understood as stating a moral ideal not yet realized at the time of its drafting, intended to serve as a standard toward which the nation would progress over time. Associated prominently with Abraham Lincoln's interpretation. **[[declaration-of-independence-nationalist-viewpoint|Nationalist Reading]]** — The Declaration is understood primarily as a practical instrument of political separation and international recognition rather than as a philosophical statement with continuing normative force. **[[declaration-of-independence-living-document-viewpoint|Living Document Reading]]** — The Declaration's principles are held to have evolving application, providing a basis for extending rights and recognition beyond those groups originally contemplated by its authors. ===== Related Pages ===== * [[declaration-of-independence-history|Declaration of Independence — History]] * [[declaration-of-independence-text|Full Text of the Declaration of Independence]] * [[declaration-of-independence-historical-consensus|Declaration of Independence — Historical Consensus]] * [[declaration-of-independence-debate|Declaration of Independence — Viewpoints Debate]] * [[declaration-of-independence-slavery-debate|Declaration of Independence and Slavery — Debate]] * [[declaration-of-independence-legal-status-debate|Declaration of Independence Legal Status — Debate]] * [[second-continental-congress|Second Continental Congress]] * [[thomas-jefferson|Thomas Jefferson]] * [[american-revolution|American Revolution]] * [[united-states-constitution|United States Constitution]] ===== Footnotes ===== - Malone, Dumas. //Jefferson the Virginian//. Boston: Little, Brown, 1948. Vol. 1, pp. 219–223. - Becker, Carl. //The Declaration of Independence: A Study in the History of Political Ideas//. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1922. - Maier, Pauline. //American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence//. New York: Knopf, 1997. - Boyd, Julian P., ed. //The Papers of Thomas Jefferson//. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950. Vol. 1, pp. 413–433. - Armitage, David. //The Declaration of Independence: A Global History//. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007.