[12]:180182 After the Townshend Acts, some essayists questioned whether Parliament had any legitimate jurisdiction in the colonies. Ideas and phrases from both of these documents appear in the Declaration of Independence. It also borrowed language from George Mason's Virginia Declaration of Rights. Historians have often sought to identify the sources that most influenced the words and political philosophy of the Declaration of Independence. CLICK HERE FOR AN EDITABLE COPY OF THIS POST. The controversial question of whether to allow additional slave states into the United States coincided with the growing stature of the Declaration. [107] Historians now understand that Jefferson's Rough draft was one in a series of drafts used by the Committee of Five before being submitted to Congress for deliberation. For instance, Abigail Adams suggested to her husband John Adams that in the "new Code . Edward Rutledge of South Carolina was opposed to Lee's resolution but desirous of unanimity, and he moved that the vote be postponed until the following day. Online Library of Liberty [160][161][162], The adoption of the Declaration of Independence was dramatized in the 1969 Tony Award-winning musical 1776 and the 1972 film version, as well as in the 2008 television miniseries John Adams. The Declaration was a formal explanation of why the Continental Congress had voted to declare its independence from Great Britain, a year after the American Revolutionary War broke out. The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Second Continental Congress, states the reasons the British colonies of North America sought independence in July of 1776. [9]:21,3840 The Declaration of Independence does not have the force of law domestically, but nevertheless it may help to provide historical and legal clarity about the Constitution and other laws. [19]:156157. Source: George Washington, general of American forces, to U.S. Congress, from winter encampment at Valley Forge, December 22, 1777. "[1]:27 The extent of Locke's influence on the American Revolution has been questioned by some subsequent scholars, however. [71] Historian Garry Wills argued that Jefferson was influenced by the Scottish Enlightenment, particularly Francis Hutcheson, rather than Locke,[72] an interpretation that has been strongly criticized.
which document provided a rationale for american independence
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