Ms. Nicoll History Unit 1 

 
Name: Vivienne Scott 

Date: September 7th 

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, terrible leagal acts, taxes 

- Coercive acts- 
- Meant to sock you in the face when king is 
mad 
- Make sure that they got in line 
Background 
- Colonists got mad, decided to form their own 
Information 
government 
- Continental congress was created 
- Action done by colonists meant to fight 
back 
- Resistance 

- 1775, after revolutionary war 

- Started to write down decleration of 
The Second
independence 
Continental
- Comitee to write it (Thomas Jefferson was main 
Congress
author, also John Adams & Benjamin Franklin) 
- Took a long time for everyone to sign it 

- 5 years later, tried to run own government, 

continental congress isn’t enough 
- Fighting over colonies, arguing about recources 
Then what?  - Articles of confederation was the first real 
attempt at branches of government 
- Used until 1789 
- Needed more, finally replaced by Constitution 

 
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Ms. Nicoll History Unit 1 

- Decleration of Independence formally declared 

independence 
- July 4th, 1776- 2nd Continental Congress approved 
What is important  Decleration of Independence 
to remember?  - Not everyone was actually present, by the 
time everyone signed it was July 5th 
- Act broke all ties to British, US was born 
- No more recources from British 

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

- Philosophy of politics 
- How they run the government 
Philosophy of 
- Locke argued for fair governments 
Government 
- Government should be changed if it is unfair 
- Protect peoples natural rights to life 

- Before John Locke 

- Philosiphy is - man is actually evil 
Wait! What about 
- To protect you from yourself, all agree to be nice 
Thomas Hobbes 
- Actually worked 
- Montesquieu, Rousseau 

- Unalienable rights 
Key Points of the 
- Nobody can ever take them away 
Declaration of
- Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness 
Independence
- As long as it doesn’t hurt others 

- If you are a gov. Official, you have the duty to 

Key Points of the 
protect others, and protect rights 
Declaration of
- If you become destructive, because it is not a given 
Independence 
right by God, it can be taken away 

Jefferson argued 
- Argued for “Life, liberty, happiness” 
for... 

Jefferson also  - King George III had violated colonists rights 

argued that…   - Documents list over 25 rights had been 

 
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Ms. Nicoll History Unit 1 

violated 
- Unfair laws 
- Taxes 
- Putting troops in peoples houses 

- Social Contract 
And, finally, 
- Agreed with Locke’s version of Hobbes’s social 
Jefferson argued 
contract 
for... 
- Gov needs to protect citizens, and England wasn’t 
 

 
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