Analyse de la déclaration d'indépendance au Congrès, 4 juillet 1776 (document en anglais)

The text we are dealing with is the United States Declaration of Independence. It is a juridical or legal document but it is also philosophical and historical. It is a primary source, since the document has not been altered by historians or anybody. It was published in July 4, 1776. At that time, the thirteen colonies were in conflict with the mother country, the British Empire.

The War of Independence began in 1775, the colonies were outraged by increased taxes and no American representation at British parliament. The authors are the "Committee of Five" who are Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. They drafted the text together in June. Jefferson had written a paragraph on slavery but the Congress crossed it out, thinking that their allies in the War of Independence were not ready for abolition.

Since it is a Declaration of Independence, the text is firstly intended for the British Empire. But we can state that it is also probably aimed at the rest of the world. The text will have consequences on the whole world. Finally, it is also written for people of the 13 colonies. The main theme pointed out is independence. People from the colonies desired to form a government which would emancipate from the British Crown. They wanted to best defend human rights.

In this text, it appears that the authors’ main purpose is to make clear their conception of unalienable rights. They explain to everyone their vision of Democracy. According to them, whenever the government does not respect people’s natural rights, or even becomes injurious like in a Tyranny, the people can and even must overturn it and change it. Afterwards, the authors go on to accuse the British Monarchy of Tyranny. As Representatives, they want to proclaim their Independence, specifying that they want no more ties with the British Empire. At last, it might be interesting to emphasize on the religious aspect of the text. Democracy is based on unalienable and natural rights, which are provided by God. A monarchy of Divine Right, such as the British Empire, relies on the idea that the King is appointed by God, which gives to him an absolute power. We could ask ourselves to know if it is legitimate to want to abolish ties with a Monarchy of Divine Right, and at the same time referring to God so as to “set” Democracy.

We will consequently focus firstly on the idea of Unalienable Human Rights, which appears since the beginning of the text. This will lead us to evoke how a Government should be, according to the authors. Finally, we will point out religion issues.

We can see in the second paragraph, what are the unalienable Rights of men for the authors. They state that all men are created equal. In this regard, those rights seem obvious, unquestionable. It cannot be disputed that all men have the same rights from the day they are born. We can notice the influence of Enlightenment. Indeed, this period had been central and had influenced the revolution movements. Some concepts such as “natural rights” or individual liberty came from enlightenment philosophers like John Locke or Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Among these rights, we can note “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. Thus, we could have said that there would not be murders, violence, or unfair condemnations anymore. According to the text there is also the right to overthrow a Government. We could ask us about these rights. Who are “men” ? Are all these rights also applied for women ? What about slavery and Black people ? Some terms needed to be defined. They were in part going to be clarified in a new Constitution, which was proclaimed over 10 years later (1783).

The text establishes human rights as “foundations" for all governments.

Now, let’s examine more precisely the theme of the Government. A little further in the text, the authors assert that “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just

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