Name___________________________ Hour____

Unit 2 Primary Source Analysis: Declarations of Independence

The American Declaration of Independence inspired revolutions around the world, including in an
American colony called Liberia. How did the ideals of the Declaration inspire other declarations of
independence?

Brainstorm: what do you know about the Enlightenment and its ideas?

American Declaration of Independence, 1776

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. — That to
secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of
the governed, — That 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, laying its foundation on such principles
and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and
Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light
and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer,
while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But
when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce
them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to
provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and
such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of
the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object
the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States...

1. Where do you see the influence of the Enlightenment and John Locke in the Declaration of
Independence?

2. What does the word unalienable mean in your own words? What rights does Jefferson see as
“unalienable?”
French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, 1789
The representatives of the French people, organized as a National Assembly, believing that the ignorance,
neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities and of the corruption of
governments, have determined to set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights
of man, in order that this declaration, being constantly before all the members of the Social body, shall
remind them continually of their rights and duties; in order that the acts of the legislative power, as well as
those of the executive power, may be compared at any moment with the objects and purposes of all political
institutions and may thus be more respected, and, lastly, in order that the grievances of the citizens, based
hereafter upon simple and incontestable principles, shall tend to the maintenance of the constitution and
redound to the happiness of all. Therefore the National Assembly recognizes and proclaims, in the presence
and under the auspices of the Supreme Being, the following rights of man and of the citizen:
Article I – Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions can be founded only on the
common good.
Article II – The goal of any political association is the conservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of
man. These rights are liberty, property, safety and resistance against oppression.
Article III – The principle of any sovereignty resides essentially in the Nation. No body, no individual can exert
authority which does not emanate expressly from it.
Article IV – Liberty consists of doing anything which does not harm others: thus, the exercise of the natural
rights of each man has only those borders which assure other members of the society the fruition of these same
rights. These borders can be determined only by the law.
Article XVII – Property being an inviolable and sacred right, no one can be deprived of private usage, if it is not
when the public necessity, legally noted, evidently requires it, and under the condition of a just and prior
indemnity.

3. What aspects of Enlightenment philosophy are reflected in the Declaration of the Rights of Man
and Citizen?

4. What does the word sovereignty mean in your own words? According to Article III, who holds the
sovereignty?

5. According to Article IV, what is liberty? Where does liberty end?

Liberian Declaration of Independence from the United States, 1847
We, the representatives of the people of the commonwealth of Liberia, in convention assembled, invested with the
authority of forming a new government, relying upon the aid and protection of the Great Arbiter of human events, do
hereby in the name and on behalf of the people of this commonwealth, publish and declare the said commonwealth a
free, sovereign, and independent state, by the name and title of the Republic of Liberia.
While announcing to the nations of the world the new position which the people of this Republic have felt themselves
called upon to assume, courtesy to their opinion seems to demand a brief accompanying statement of the causes which
induced them, first to expatriate themselves from the land of their nativity and to form settlements on this barbarous
coast, and now to organize their government by the assumption of a sovereign and independent character. Therefore,
we respectfully ask their attention to the following facts:

We recognize in all men certain inalienable rights; among these are life, liberty, and the right to acquire, possess, enjoy,
and defend property. By the practice and consent of men in all ages, some system or form of government is proved to be
necessary to exercise, enjoy, and secure their rights, and every people have a right to institute a government, and to
choose and adopt that system, or form of it, which in their opinion will most effectively accomplish these objects, and
secure their happiness, which does not interfere with the just rights of others. The right, therefore, to institute
government and powers necessary to conduct it is an inalienable right and cannot be resisted without the grossest
injustice.

Therefore, in the name of humanity, virtue, and religion, in the name of the great God, our common Creator, we appeal
to the nations of Christendom, and earnestly and respectfully ask of them that they will regard us with the sympathy and
friendly considerations to which the peculiarities of our condition entitles us, and to that comity which marks the
friendly intercourse of civilized and independent communities.

6. What aspects of Enlightenment philosophy are reflected in the Liberian Declaration of

Independence from the United States?

7. What is the purpose of the government according to the Liberian Declaration?

Summary:

8. What similarities do you see in all three documents?

9. What impact did the American Declaration of Independence have on subsequent (later)
independence movements?
Short Answer Question: Commented [1]: Do we want to provide a short outline
The American Declaration of Independence inspired revolutions around the world, including in an American colony for students?
called Liberia. How did the ideals of the Declaration inspire other declarations of independence? Example-
Possible structure for your answer: Sentence 1- Topic Sentence that introduces your
Sentence 1- Topic Sentence that introduces your paragraph paragraph
Sentence 2- Introduce evidence from doc 1 Sentence 2- Introduce evidence from doc 1
Sentence 3-4: connect evidence from doc 1 to doc 2 and 3. Sentence 3-4: connect evidence from doc 1 to doc 2
Sentence 5: Conclude paragraph by summarizing/answering the prompt.
and 3.
Sentence 5: Conclude paragraph by
summarizing/answering the prompt.