LAD #3: Declaration of Independence

1. Democratic principles of the Declaration of Independence include power deriving from the people, that these people have the rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and when the government does not meet these needs it is the people's job to change it and reform it.

2. The Declaration of Independence also came with a list of grievances of King George III, which include sending officers to harass and take advantage of colonists, keeping troops in the colonies during times of peace, taxing without consent, denying people of trial by jury, getting rid of parties that opposed the his ideas, putting the military above the law, and housing troops in the homes of colonists.

3. The conclusion of the Declaration of Independence states that, although they have made attempts to petition for change with the British government, their attempts were answered "only by repeated injury." Thus, the colonists have concluded that they must become independent of the oppressive British government and that they are now to be considered "free and independent states" with all the powers that come with free and independent states.

The Declaration of Independence