Ms. Nicoll History Unit 1 

 
Name: Zoe Greenspan 

Date: September 7, 2017 

Class: 8th Grade - US History 

 
Slides and Notes
 
Topic Student Notes

The Declaration of Independence 

Title 
Unit 1: Lesson 2 

Analyze the philosophy of government expressed in the 

Main Idea  Declaration of Independence​, with an emphasis on 
government as a means of securing individual rights.  

- 1774 Americans were fed up because they had 

gotten a terrible tax because the King wanted to 
make sure the colonists got in line, but instead the 
colonists formed their own government called the 
Background 
continental congress 
Information 
- first Continental Congress, comprised of delegates 
from the colonies 
- First time they weren’t going under the Kings and 
going off on their own.  

- The second government forms in 1775 after the 

revolutionary war 
- They wanted to make a statement and not just be 
traders  
The Second
- Wanted to form their own independence by riding 
Continental
their own declaration of independence 
Congress
- They started writing the document in 1775 
- A committee helped write it but not just Jefferson 
- By 1776 everyone had signed it and wrote it and by 
June of 1776 it was sent to the King  

- The continental congress was not enough to have 

them run the US 
Then what?  - Five years after the congress ratified the first 
national constitution (called “Articles of 
Confederation”) which allowed the country to be 

 
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Ms. Nicoll History Unit 1 

governed until 1789 

- From about 1780-1789 the articles of 
confederation ruled 
- They thought it wasn’t enough so than they came 
up with the constitution and the bill of rights 
- Discontent was happening throughout and it 
didn’t just go from 0-100 
- They didn’t go right away because they liked the 
tea and protection along with the economy they 
were giving the people 

- Declaration of Independence formally announced 

the colonies break from Great Britain 
- On July 4, 1776 the 2nd Continental Congress 
What is important  approved the declaration of independance 
to remember?  everyone 
- This act broke all ties to the British Crown The 
United States of America was born 
- They still had to fight about it until the British lost 

- Equal 
- Unalienable 
- Governments 
- Happiness 
- Men 
Declaration of
- Consent  
Independence
- Destructive  
- Ablolish 
- New  
- Safety  
 

- Jefferson built upon the writings of the English 

philosopher John Locke 
- Locke argued for fair government  
Philosophy of  - Are based on the consent of the people 
Government  - Project people’s “natural rights” to life, and 
property 
- Should be changed or replaced if they 
become unfair 

- Hobbes was an English philosopher before Locke 

Wait! What about  who established the social contract theory that 
Thomas Hobbes  locke accepted and revised 
- People are actually evil 

 
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Ms. Nicoll History Unit 1 

- social contract theory is why hobbes is considered 

foundational for most Western political 
philosophy 
- Montesquieu and Rousseau 

- The first idea was that all men possess “certain 

unalienable RIghts” 
- People are born with individual rights that cannot 
Key Points of the 
be taken away 
Declaration of
- Life 
Independence
- Liberty 
- Pursuit 
 

- Government officials have the duty to protect 

Key Points of the  others (ex: police) 
Declaration of - If the government does not protect these rights, 
Independence  the government changed or removed 
- Impeached can happen to anyone in government 

Jefferson argued  - The right to “Live, liberty, and the pursuit of 
for...  happiness” 

- King George 3rd had violated the colonists rights 

violations 
- Listed over 25 rights violations 
Jefferson also  - Jefferson charged the King with passing: 
argued that…   - Unfair laws 
- Taxing colonists  
- British army taking people's homes for wars 
 

- Social contract agreed with Hobbes (especially 

john’s version) 
- Rulers had to protect the citizens and england 
And, finally, 
wasn’t  
Jefferson argued 
- Jefferson influenced by the enlightenment idea of 
for... 
social contract 
- Jefferson said that king george 3rd had broken the 
social contract with colonists 
 

 
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