T1+-+6.2B

T1 - 6.2B: Peyton Lydigsen, Ashley Horvath, Megan Walters (Declaration of Independence)

**JEFFERSON’S EXPLOIT FOR INDEPENDENCE **

The first Continental Congress first met in May 1775 to discuss the independence of the thirteen colonies. The thirteen colonies are Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. The congress elected five members to write the Declaration of Independence. The five members included Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston. The Continental Congress decided to create the Declaration of Independence so that the colonies would be free from the rule of Britain. The Continental Congress thought that it was very necessary to create a document that would promote the thirteen colonies as independent states and that would also disconnect their relationship with Britain. The continental Congress decided that Thomas Jefferson would be the person to draft the Declaration of Independence. They decided on having Thomas Jefferson draft the declaration because they all knew that he took this very seriously and wanted freedom from England. He wanted everyone that was part of the thirteen colonies to have their own rights and to be independent states. Jefferson drafted the declaration, and had Benjamin Franklin and John Adams help him edit it. While Jefferson was drafting the declaration of independence he made sure that the language and words he used sounded as if they were from the people rather than an aristocrat.  //“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and, secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”// This is the preamble, or the introduction to the Declaration of Independence. It states the topic of the Declaration, except the rest of the document explains it in more depth.

The Declaration of Independence was signed by fifty-six colonists on July 4th, 1776. These colonists included Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Samuel Adams, and many other people. The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in Independence Hall. Our founding fathers were some of the men to sign the Declaration. The people were very happy to have the independence they always wanted. Some people still wanted to be loyal to the King, so they moved over to Great Britain.

The Declaration of Independence was an important document for colonists because it claimed them free of Britain and let them speak out to the Government. It gave them the alienated rights they deserved. Their alienated rights are the rights that the colonists were born with. No one, not even the king, could take them away. It gave a voice, and actions that they could do within the given law. The Declaration of Independence gave the colonies their freedom.