The Declaration Of Independence, A Short Explanation, 2nd Edition

The Declaration Of Independence

A Short Explanation

2nd Edition

By Ron Howson

Copyright © 2012, 2019 Ron Howson

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 9780463365892

Table of Contents

Chapter one

Chapter two

Chapter three

Chapter four

Chapter five

Chapter six

Chapter seven

Chapter One

The Declaration of Independence, A Short Explanation:

As time goes by, languages change. Words and the way they are used change and their meanings can change. What may have sounded normal two hundred years ago could be hard to understand today. The purpose of the following is to go over some of the words used in the Declaration using definitions and examples from that time period in a simple manner. You may be surprised to find meanings of the words used in the Declaration or that the way a sentence is structured might give different or slightly different meanings than what we think today.

After speaking to some recent High School graduates, I found they were not able to read the Declaration of Independence and understand it. Discussing this surprise with a well-educated friend of mine, he also said that he had difficulty reading it and just couldn't get it. This Declaration is not just one of the most important documents ever written for the United States, but for the entire world. The Declaration was a bold statement for the Rights of Man. It is possibly even more important today than it was then, which is why we should all know what it really meant and what they were really saying and why. Don’t be insulted if I am defining words that you already know. There were a lot of questions that different people had. It is written for people like them and people like me who only thought they knew what it was saying.

It is because of the way it was written and the language of the time that makes it difficult. Back then, you might have heard someone say, Put the cow, in the bucket, some water. You might have to think about it for a minute, but you know that you are not putting the cow in the bucket. You just have to look at who is doing what.

We will go through the lines or short sections and define words the way they were defined and used then and explain it as simply as possible. A word can have many definitions, but only the definition that applies will be used. You will find some more common words that some people felt they needed explained or things they asked about as well.

Here is how we will go through the Declaration. First, there will be a section of the Declaration, followed by the words with the definitions and examples, followed by the part of the Declaration it covers again. For example, when you clearly list the reasons for something, or you make something clear and plain and then put facts that demonstrate what you are saying, you are declaring or you are making a Declaration.

You can declare things you bought when you go through customs. When you declare bankruptcy, you state the reason for it and list all your debts. You can declare war, list all the reasons, and clearly and plainly state the facts. You can even declare your love for someone.

These are all DECLARATIONS. An official declaration was often printed and handed out or posted (actually nailed to a post) someplace. The Declaration of Independence was printed, published, and posted throughout the colonies. It clearly and plainly listed the reasons for the separation with England and listed the facts that drove them to take action toward independence from England.

That is how the words will be defined. Then we will have an example sentence from that time, where they are available and easy to understand, to help show the meaning and how it is used. They will be put in quotations like this and are followed by who wrote it or said it and the date where that information is available in brackets (like this). As in, Tomorrow, the bill for enacting his Majestye's Declaration in religious matters is to have its first reading. (1660 Marvell)

Now we know what a Declaration is and we've already started. Easy so far?

Chapter Two

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When people come together, have a meeting, or when people agree, it is called a Congress. I know that today it seems like three congressmen couldn't agree on which direction is up, but that is what it means. So if there was a meeting and everyone agreed, I could say that the meeting was a Congress or I could also say that they were all in congress because they agreed. The meeting itself is called a congress, so if they signed a piece of paper or passed a law during the meeting, I could also say it was done IN CONGRESS.

Today Congress refers to a meeting of our elected representatives who are there for the purpose of securing and safeguarding our rights and protecting our safety and happiness. As you will see later in this Declaration, that is their job - to secure our rights and to protect our safety and happiness. In fact, that is the purpose of our Government.

The people in Congress are elected to office for two years to go to Washington and stand in our place and speak for us and protect our rights and safety and happiness. After two years, a new congress is elected. They do this because we do not have the time or resources to go there ourselves, nor could we all fit in the room they meet in. They are our deputies and we deputize them by voting them into office and, if they do a good job of protecting our rights and ensuring our safety and happiness, we vote for them again, if not, we replace them by voting for someone else who will.

When an area of land is divided into sections and each section has its own borders and has its own Government, it is called a State. State is another word for a country. That is why they are called Heads of State when leaders come and meet from other countries. They are the heads of those other countries.

When these States make agreements with each other to join or unite in some way, it is called FEDERATING. They federate when they make agreements (sometimes called a compact) to join each other.

It comes from an old word, fides, which means faith. So they join together, make agreements with each other, and have faith in each other. When two or more States join in this way, and form a government, it is called a Federal Government, because they came together and joined together by agreements and contracts with each other. Sweden and Denmark were united by a federal compact under one monarch (1707 Seton) Sweden and Denmark in this example were two separate countries that joined each other under one monarch (a Monarch is a King or Queen).

In the United States, all the States of that country form a supreme Federal Government and send representatives of each State to act on its behalf. Thus ends royal Authority in this state. (1776 Abigail Adams) She is saying that in that area, which has its own borders and its own government, the authority of the King (royal Authority) has ended.

When the Declaration of Independence was written, there were only thirteen States in the entire continent. Those states are listed at the bottom of the Declaration with the signatures. In the years 1774, 1775, and 1776, these states sent representatives to meet, or to have a congress, and called it the Continental Congress. When they were In Congress, on July 4, 1776, they signed The Unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, which has come to be known as the Declaration of Independence. It is often simply called the Declaration of Independence because somebody wrote on the back of the paper, Original Declaration of Independence dated 4 July 1776.

America itself got its name from an explorer and mapmaker. There was a man named Amerigo Vespucci who drew maps of places including portions of the Americas. This is how the country was named America. It is named after him and is a version of his first name, Amerigo, which was written on his map.

This covers our first lines.

"IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events,

When there is a continuous progression of time or events, it is called a COURSE. If I said, During the course of cleaning the garage, I found my wrench. It means that as time and events progressed while cleaning the garage, I found the wrench. During the course of growing up, I learned many valuable lessons, means that as time and events progressed during the time I was growing up, I learned many valuable lessons.

Sometimes you are going to see things written with a capital letter and you might wonder, Why? In the Declaration it says When in the Course of human events… and has the word Course capitalized. It is really pretty simple. The word Course is followed by of human events, so you know which course it is talking about. When it is written this way, the course is defined by the words that follow it, so it is capitalized. It is naming what it is, a course, and then saying which course it is, it is the Course of human events. You will find several examples of this throughout the Declaration and it is nothing to get confused over. The meanings do not change because it is written this way.

Throughout the Declaration you will find other words that are written with a capital that you might not capitalize today. They are simply naming something. Other times, something will be capitalized, then in the next sentence it won't be. The meanings do not change when it is or isn't written with a capital. You will also see some odd spelling at times. Like in the above example sentence when they wrote, Tomorrow, the bill for enacting his Majestye's Declaration… That was how they wrote Majesty’s back then. Later in this booklet, you will see the word complete written as compleate It is how they spelled the word back then. It is the British spelling for the word and there will be several of these in the declaration.

Sometimes a word or words will be purposely left out of a sample sentence if it is too confusing and doesn't change the meaning of the sample sentence. You will know that it is being done when you see these dots…after the sentence or in the middle of the sentence in place of the missing word or words.