LAD #3: Declaration of Independence

1.) Democratic Principles
Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the Declaration of Independence, included the three unalienable rights that we use today, which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Also included is the fact that the writers thought that the declaration should be written for the people as a whole, rather than for individuals. Everyone has these unalienable rights, and the consitution created a democracy for the colonies at this time.
2.) Grievances
King George III would only pass laws for the colonies if they were to benefit him as well. The king also dissolved all of the representative houses that didn't agree with him and his beliefs. When there was no fighting or violence, the king kept British troops in the colonies just to make sure they were always watched and that violence or outbreaks was not an option. Britain's policy of salutary neglect let the colonists think that they could do whatever they wanted, but then the British came in and enforced laws, expecting the colonists to follow them. The right to trial by jury was abolished as well.
3.) Summary
The Declaration of Independence was the time at which the colonies officially declared themself free from British rule. The colonies wrote about how they now could form alliances with whomever they wish, trade with anybody they wanted to, make their own laws, and that they were now their own country. The colonies became officially and politically free in 1783, 7 years after the Declaration was signed.