The Declaration of Independence: Ideas, Action, and Aftermath

The Dive

In the summer of 1776, representatives from the thirteen American colonies gathered in Philadelphia to take a bold step: to break away from Great Britain. The result was the Declaration of Independence, a document meant to explain to the world why the colonies were choosing to go their own way.

The Declaration was mostly written by Thomas Jefferson. In his words, it wasn’t meant to be a new philosophy—it was meant to show what most colonists already believed. In just a few paragraphs, it laid out ideas about rights, power, and government that would shape history.

The most famous part is the preamble: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…' These words are packed with big ideas: that rights like life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness come from being human—not from kings. That governments are supposed to protect those rights. And that when they don’t, people have the right to make a new government.

The bulk of the Declaration lists complaints against King George III. The colonists claimed he ruled unfairly: shutting down local governments, sending soldiers into their homes, and taxing them without their permission. They said they had tried to reason with him—but he didn’t listen.

By signing the Declaration, 56 men risked everything. John Hancock signed big so the king would have no trouble reading his name. Others joked nervously about being hanged. As Benjamin Franklin said, 'We must all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.'

But for all its boldness, the Declaration also had limits. A line blaming the King for the slave trade was taken out. And even though it said 'all men are created equal,' slavery continued. Women, Indigenous people, and others were excluded from its promises. Frederick Douglass, an abolitionist, would later ask: 'What to the slave is the Fourth of July?'

Still, the Declaration’s impact was huge. Other revolutions used it as a guide. In France, Haiti, Latin America, and Vietnam, leaders pointed to Jefferson’s words. In the U.S., women’s suffrage leaders in 1848 rewrote it to include women. Civil rights leaders used it to demand that the country live up to its values.

Jefferson once said the Declaration was meant to be 'an expression of the American mind.' It was never perfect. But its power lies in the idea that ordinary people have the right to demand change—and that nations are built on more than territory. They are built on principles.

Why It Matters

The Declaration of Independence is more than a piece of parchment. It introduced a radical idea: that power comes from the people, not from kings. While the nation didn’t live up to its ideals right away, those ideals became a mirror for change. Every generation has looked back at Jefferson’s words and asked: Are we living up to this? And that question keeps the American experiment alive.