A Fourth of July Firecracker.

The Declaration of Independence ignited a firestorm 225 years ago this summer. Here's why.

FOCUS: An Annotated Study of the Opening Section of the Declaration of Independence

TEACHING OBJECTIVES

To help students understand the origins and meaning of one of America's most important documents, the Declaration of Independence.

Discussion Questions:

* Suppose a group of Americans decides they want to secede from the U.S. Can they cite the Declaration of Independence to bolster their demand?

* If there had been TV in 1776, would the Declaration have been effective as a prime-time broadcast?

* Were the truths cited as "self-evident" (obvious) really obvious in 1776? Are they obvious around the world today?

* What does the Declaration suggest should be the fate of tyrants?

CLASSROOM STRATEGIES

Critical Thinking/Discussion: The ideas in the Declaration of Independence were not original with Thomas Jefferson or the other Founding Fathers. Many were borrowed from English philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) and other thinkers. Does that fact diminish the document's power? (Jefferson wasn't trying to be original; he drew on accepted ideas to persuade the world that what the colonists were doing in breaking free of Britain was reasonable and necessary.)

* Why, in a society where human slavery was widespread, did Jefferson write "all men are created equal"? What did the phrase mean then? How has it been interpreted over the last 225 years?

* Refer to governments "deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." Remind students that one of the main complaints of the colonists was that Britain had levied taxes on them without their consent. If Britain had given the colonies seats in Parliament, would independence have become unnecessary?

* Have students read a copy of the full text of the Declaration, which goes on to make a series of charges against King George III of England. Is it a balanced account, or wartime propaganda? How might the Declaration convince other countries to come to the aid of the colonies?

* Next, ask students to suppose they were with Jefferson when he decided to change Locke's language and change "property" to "pursuit of happiness." What might they ask Jefferson about the change?

So you're mad at the mother country. You've got grievances aplenty and you want the world to know it. It's time to cut the apron strings and start a new nation.

That's what it was like for delegates from the 13 American colonies when they voted to break free of Great Britain in 1776, exactly 225 years ago this July. But as Virginia's Thomas Jefferson later wrote, they needed a document to "place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent." They assigned Jefferson to write it--then edited his draft while he squirmed in his seat like anyone whose work is being corrected. A pop-up version of the Declaration's opening section tells the story behind the lofty lines.

The Declaration of Independence

When in the Course of human Events it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of feature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.

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.

Jefferson had written "sacred and undeniable." It may have been Benjamin Franklin who made this change. But if these things are really self-evident, why list them? The colonists wanted to make sure the world--including potential allies like France--got their point.

Jefferson here departs from English philosopher John Locke's "life, liberty, and property." Maybe that would have been too radical.

Not only a justification for independence, but a warning to future despots: You can be overthrown!

To reassure the world they're not TM hotheads, the colonists say they're only doing what's necessary." And "dissolve the political bands" is a nice way of saying revolution. Nice or not, the British called it treason.

Perhaps U.S. history's five most famous words, they express a radical ideal many Congress members didn't live up to. Indeed, many of them owned slaves. Abraham Lincoln would give the phrase new life in the Gettysburg Address in 1863. Bold as it was, it still omitted humanity's female half.

Many Englishmen accepted this idea that governments--even monarchies--got their power in a "compact," or agreement, with the people.