1). Something that struck me the most was the ablility of a public document representing a whole people to change the world. Thomas Jefferson shifted his appeal for independent governing from the resposibility of the king to the responsibilty of the people. He ends his document with a call to freedom from the colonies and a course of action to make it happen. Through his persuasive writting, he empowers the new government to break free from the king. This is probably the best example of the power of writing because it helped unite a people under one document and lead them to be the most prosperous and powerful nation in the world.
2. In the Declaration of Independence, I liked how Thomas Jefferson provided evidence for the separation from England and then concludes with a logical conclusion of independence from the kingdom. It calls for action from the people to create a new union that aligns with the Godly principals of equalty, freedom, and prosperity among its citizens. This provides validity to the actions that the colonies take because of failed attempts at negation between the colonies and the King. It is effective because it, in many ways, mobilized a nation to stand up for what they believed. It also provides a blueprint on how to run the nation even today. He uses evidence from the tyrannys that have been enacted against the colonies and citizens that violates human rights. He provides examples, "For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.... He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us...He has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People". I think the best writing is when he establishes the rights that the United States of America stands for. "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". This embodies what our country stands for and gives us a blue print to live by. When we compare our modern day society to this, are we still living as our founders and God intended us?
Your description of what the Declaration of Independence meant at the time it was written was very good to read. Good explanations of what had led to the colonies want to rebel which was due to the king's acts. I also like how you explain in the quote from the document itself that it means what the America meant during that particular time.
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