Declaration of Indepence
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As citizens of the United States of America, we as people enjoy several rights and freedoms that are not available to nations around the world. These luxuries and rights that we possess can be accounted towards the works of our founding fathers. The most predominant display of the collection of ideas of all these individuals is expressed in The Declaration of Independence. It is undeniable that the creation of this masterpiece resulted in not only the advancement of the U.S as a nation, but as a result positively affected several other nations in their revolutionary endeavors.
As the end of the war was approaching and the Minuteman (the Americans), were in pursuit of a victory, the founding fathers of our nation, along with several other leaders created The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson. This well articulated piece of legislation did more than infuriate the people of Great Britain, it served as a stepping stone for other countries in desire of freedom, and furthermore instigated the American people to fight harder and smarter to achieve what they truly desired, independence.
On the national scale, this legislation brought unity among the states of the north and the states of the south. As stated in the document, the United States of America was also known as the 13 colonies which constituted it. By having this important piece of legislation ratified by the leaders of our nation at the time, it showed that the United States of America was in clear pursuit as a whole, to achieve victory and furthermore independence.
Nationalism, which was a reoccurring theme in American history, was not the only result of the creation of this document. During this period of time, Great Britain was one of the most dominant nations in Europe, and in the world. With their expanding empire through imperialistic claims, nations that were declared colonies or protectorates of Great Britain and other nations, felt that there was little or no hope of achieving independence. This thought expressed by some nations under imperialistic control soon changed as more and more people became influenced by The Declaration of Independence. The most predominant example where others benefited from The Declaration of Independence was the French Revolution. Although this revolution was an internal conflict between the Bourgeoisie and the peasants, the peasants which instigated this revolution, were influenced predominantly by The Declaration of Independence as the Americans represented the peasants in a fight against great odds.
Another example where the presence and creation of The Declaration of Independence influenced others would be the revolutions that took place in Mexico and Haiti against the majestic rule of Spain. All over the world groups and nations were inevitably influenced by the Declaration of Independence. This new piece of legislation brought about so many positive results on the domestic, national and international scale. For these reasons, many would view that the creation of The Declaration of Independence only brought about positive impacts without any negative ones.
Personally, I feel that half this statement is inevitably true. The creation and existence of The Declaration of Independence had very many positive results. However, the effects of this legislation were not just limited to positive effects; negative connotations also arose with this documentation. In this document included a clause stating that all men were created equal, today as residents and citizens of the U.S, we as people strictly follow this statement and in certain conditions the lack of following this statement can result in large consequences, including jail. This statement that was included in The Declaration of Independence although eventually resulted in a more united and respectable nation, at the time this statement tore apart the U.S.
During the time period when The Declaration of Independence was drafted, the U.S consisted of two main groups, the states of the south and the states of the north. After The Declaration of Independence was created and ratified, a large problem emerged regarding peoples rights, which furthermore resulted in a potential threat of the U.S splitting into two countries. In essence The Declaration of Independence indirectly provoked the civil war due to its vagueness regarding equality. The Northern states argued that since all people were created equal, then slavery should be abolished; this belief contradicted the principles of the southern states who felt that black people were inferior to their white counterparts.
At the end of the civil war however, when the north ended up victorious and slavery was abolished, this section of The Declaration of Independence proved to be a very crucial part of this legislation. And as a result the U.S became more united ethically and as a nation. The biggest downfall to the ratification of The Declaration of Independence though, was not in its content, rather the lack of preparation of what to do as a nation after this document was ratified. Once the United States was declared a new nation there was a lot of controversy regarding taxes, people’s rights, and the form of government that would be used to govern this new nation.
After The Declaration of Independence was ratified (before the civil war) , several political groups emerged with leaders representing their views. These political groups split up the nation into different views making it very hard for leaders to come up with what is known as the Constitution today. Prior to the formation and ratification of the Constitution, a group of people created The Articles of Confederation. Although this piece of legislation had good intent, it did not please the majority of people in both the north and the south. As a result the south seemed to be slipping away from the crutches of the U.S proving to be a potential threat. The fact that The Articles of Confederation was not ratified and furthermore rejected could be due to the unprepared ness of our leaders after writing The Declaration of Independence. In essence we as a nation, rushed for the ratification of the Declaration of Independence, and as a result risked the isolation of the south from the rest of the nation.
Another major problem with The Declaration of Independence was the lack of approval of several major leaders mainly from the south, and the north to, to actually sign this piece of legislation. Most of the individuals that signed this document actually put their signature on it a year or two after it was in practice. This furthermore proves that the U.S. was too hasty is passing this legislation and less concerned about how effective it would be. The fact that most of the people that signed this document placed their signature a year or more after it was ratified, also foreshadowed disaster regarding unity of the newly emerged U.S.
In essence, the creation and ratification of The Declaration of Independence clearly proved to be a great step in achieving independence, and furthermore united the country and gave courage to nations and groups around the world. There is no denying that the following was a result of The Declaration of Independence but like I stated earlier, due to several reasons the ratification of The Declaration of Independence also brought negative connotations. As the United States of America developed as a nation expanding physically and psychologically, The Declaration of Independence is still in tact with no changes. Thus proving that our founding fathers and leaders that invested their time and effort in creating this piece of legislation were effective and later helped in making the U.S. a benevolent nation.
Sascha Böge
LABusinessJournal.org
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