Social Studies Chapter 2

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Social Studies Chapter 2

• Declaration of Independence
• Lesson 1

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Declaration of Independence

• Vocabulary
• Declaration a statement that declares, or
  announces an idea.
• In 1776, the Declaration of Independence
  announced the American Colonies overthrow of
  British rule.

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Rights

• Freedoms that are protected by a governments
  laws.
• Every person has rights.
• The Declaration of Independence outlines these
  rights.
• The United States Constitution protects these
  freedoms.

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Amendment

• A change to the Constitution.
• The first ten amendments are called the Bill of
  Rights. They protect the rights of the people of
  the United States.

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Responsibility

• A duty that someone
• is expected to fulfill.
• Americans have many rights. They also have a
  responsibility to follow the laws of the United
  States.

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Declaration of Independence

• You may have a birth certificate at home. This
  paper tells when you were born. In a way, our
  country has a birth certificate and its called
  the Declaration of Independence. This declaration
  marks the beginning of the United States. (Think
  of the Declaration of Independence as our
  countrys birth certificate.)

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Main Idea of the Declaration of Independence

• Declares our independence from Great Britain.
• Explains why the colonies should be free.

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Parts of the Declaration

• The first part begins with a promise to explain
  why the colonies must break away from Britain.
• P.R2-R5

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Parts of the Declaration Cont

• The next section explains that people have rights
  that cannot be taken away.
• All men are created equal
• P.R2-R5

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Parts of the Declaration Cont

• The next section is the longest section. It is a
  list of complaints against the king.
• Charges Against the King!
• He has refused to give his consent to laws, the
  most wholesome and necessary for public good!
• He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of
  immediate and pressing importance
• P. R2-R5

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Parts of the Declaration Cont

• The last section argues that the
• colonies have to be free to protect the
  colonists rights.
• P. R2-R5
• We WILL be independent!

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Parts of the Declaration Cont

• At the bottom of the document, delegates to
  congress
• signed their names.
• John Hancock, President of Congress signed his
  name in large letters.
• John Hancock

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Date the Declaration was signed

• July 4, 1776
• What do you do to celebrate Independence Day
  every year?
• What is another name for Independence Day?

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Question

• According to the Declaration of Independence, why
  did the colonies have the right to their own
  government?

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Answer

• Colonists have the right to their own government
  because everyone has certain rights, and Britain
  tried to take them away.

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Question

• Why was the Declaration of Independence written?

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Answer

• Americans needed a document to declare why the
  colonies had to become independent of Britain.

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Question

• What rights did Thomas Jefferson write about in
  the Declaration of Independence?

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Answer

• The right to live (Life)
• The right to be free (Liberty)
• The right to seek happiness (Pursuit of happiness)

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Ech humDid You Know?

• Adding the suffix tion to a verb, adds the
  action of to the verbs meaning.
• To declare means to make known officially, so
  declaration is the act of making something known
  officially.

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Importance of theDeclaration of Independence

• Main Idea
• The Declaration of Independence establishes basic
  ideas of freedom and equality.

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Thomas Jefferson

• Thomas Jefferson argued that a government should
  protect the rights of its citizens!
• He also argued that if the government does NOT
  protect the citizens rights, then the people
  have the right to start a new government!
• Go Thomas Jefferson!!!

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Where did Jefferson get these ideas?

• He used ideas that John Locke and other English
  thinkers had written about.
• Locke said that governments should SERVE their
  people!
• Jefferson listed many ways that Britain did NOT
  serve the colonists.

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Question

• Whose ideas formed the basis for the ideas stated
  in the Declaration of Independence?

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Answer

• John Locke

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Question

• When Thomas Jefferson wrote that all men are
  created equal, was he referring to all citizens?

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Answer

• NO!
• Thomas Jefferson was referring to white men only.
• (Whats up with that?!)

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Question

• How are Thomas Jeffersons words interpreted
  differently today than in 1776?

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Answer

• Today, all men refers to ALL CITIZENS, men and
  women of ALL races and ALL groups.

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Hmm Lets Think

• What people have worked to gain rights since the
  writing of the Declaration of Independence?

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Just to Name a Few

• Women
• African Americans
• American Indians

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Equality Then and Now

• The Declaration of Independence was approved on
  July 4, 1776.
• Today we know that Jeffersons words, all men
  created equal, includes everyone women as well
  as men, every race, every group, every ability.

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Question

• Why is the Declaration of Independence still so
  important to Americans?

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Answer

• The Declaration of Independence says EVERY
  American has the SAME rights!
• Whoo hoo!!!

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Lesson Summary

• The Colonists decided to declare their
  independence from Britain.
• Congress asked Thomas Jefferson to write the
  Declaration of Independence.
• The Declaration of Independence states that
  EVERYONE has certain rights that NO government
  can take away!

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Lesson 1 Review

• Who did congress ask to write the Declaration of
  Independence?
• Why did Colonists want independence from Britain?
• Why did Jefferson believe the Colonists had the
  right to declare independence?
• What is one reason the Declaration gives for
  independence?