Objective: To examine the importance of Common Sense, and the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

- Common Sense was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that helped convince thousands of colonists to support independence from Great Britain.

Common Sense (1776)

Thomas Paine

Video: Thomas Paine and Common Sense (4:48)

Declaration of Independence

- In June of 1776, the Continental Congress agreed that a Declaration of Independence needed to be written.

Liberty`s Kids: "The First Fourth of July" 10:51 (1/2)

- On July 4, 1776, the delegates accepted the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson.

John Trumbull's "Declaration of Independence”, 1817

1 – All people have equal rights.

“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.”

2 – Great Britain had treated the colonists wrongfully. 3 – The colonies were now an independent country known as the United States of America.

Declaration of Independence – 3 Main Parts

Declaration of Independence (3:49)

Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Site of the 1776 signing of the United States Declaration of Independence.

Reading of the Declaration of Independence from the East balcony of the Old State House, Boston, Massachusetts July 18, 1776.

Pulling Down the Statue of King George III. A depiction of the Sons of Liberty destroying the statue after the Declaration was read by George Washington to citizens and his troops in New York City on July 9, 1776.

1890's caricature of Americans kicking out the British. Uncle Sam looks on as a youthful George Washington kicks John Bull across the water, out of the United States and back to England.

"Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free……Nor is it less certain that the two races, equally free, cannot live in the same government. Nature, habit, opinion has drawn indelible lines of distinction between them." - Thomas Jefferson

Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C.Liberty`s Kids: "The First Fourth of July" 10:51 (2/2)

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