CDM Martellet 4

karuto Jeu 29 Nov - 18:27

The declaration of the thirteen united states of america

The word independance is not in the title because they wanted to express their motives first.It behoved the drafters to gather and to lay down the philosophical and practical element which buttress the relevents of this independance.When the declaration was written the colonist were not united in fact, this is going to take a lot of time ;in the same way we can not say they were not unanimous, many of them were still close to the king.But the representatives in congress were unanimous.

The structure of the text.

A preammbule, shortn which goes from L1 to L6
A philosophical part, it starts from very general principals and at the end we have a focus on the king.
A repetition on the HE, the accumulation of grievances against the king, a very detailed endictment of the king ;at the time i twas the most important part.
A sort of transition in which the writers alludes a lot to the petition
Apart were he focus on the english citize and the parlement
At the end the solemn declaration

It is a document founded in an extremly deductive procedure, and a very good illustration to the age of enlightment because it is very reasonnable.

In the preambule, we can see the beginning as a very universel ring, every men are equal, but it is not incopatible with independance.There is here an explanation, what are the motives to impel them for separation.They are forced to separated.They must explain to humanity, so it is a didactic document=explanatory.

The next part start also with principles, on the alienable rights, no one can take them away.Those are Life, Liberty, The pursuit of happiness.the idea that a government is legitimate if the govern accept it, this is a very new idea.Jefferson inovated by that, when any form of government is not right so it is the right of the peole to alter or abolis hit.When he speaks of governmentt he does not explain what sort of government it is going to be.Jefferson remain so fusy because not all american were envisaging a republic.Jefferson, Franklin did not know what form of government they would make.The document is not a constitutionnal document.Then Jefferson introduce a qualification, he did not want the government to be change out of caprice, only for very very serious motives.He want stability, he also think about after the declaration.He alludes to the fact that man don’t really like change thay are attached to their tradition, most people are intimidated by what is unknow, they prefer to accept what they know.Jefferson is also paving the way for what he is going to chage.He is going to tell us that things are no longer sufferable.Even thought he still speaks in very general terms he is paving the way for more precise arguments.Which are bringing the reader closer to the case of the colonies.We are no longer in monarchie, we are in despotism.

It is a patriotic obligation to rebell, it as to be connected with the duty.

We can feel, that he felt that the government was responsible for the liberty, but he still very hazy, they don’t exactly know what kind of government is needed.

The colonist has suffer patiently, jefferson wants to show they have been very correct but know they are fed up.It is not their own desire, they must.

The king is going to bear the brunt of the accusation, the essential part of the accusation, « repeated injuries » the king became a tyrant, a despot, he has lost the status of king and his know a tyrant.

This text is against corrupt monarchie, but not all monarchie, the famous indictment of the king you noticed immediatly the rethorical repetition of HE, this is meant to have one effect, it emphasize the guild of the king, an accumulation of grievances leveled at the king.

The main accusation have five differents heads of accusation :-the king has scorned representative government in the colonies(the abuse of the use of Veto 469 ;the king sometime decided to close down the representatives assemblee)

-The king showed disrespect for colonial justice and for the judicial systeme(when the townshend act were voted this acts stipulated that the juges would be paid directly by the crownd, so they were directly dependant on the king ;when people vialated the stamp act they could be juge without a jury which violated the habbeas corpus)

-The king misused is military power(boston massacre, the quatering act 1774:obligation for the colonist to feed and housed the army)

-The king paralysed the economic acrivity in the colonies(closure of the port of boston(big obstacle to trade)and all the taxes)

-He waged war on the colonies thus commiting a form of infanticite on his own subjects

The king is declared to be a cruel person and he could no longer be accepted as a ruler of the nation.Various petition were send to the king but he did not lessened to one of them(olive branche petition was brought to the king by a loyalist Richar Pen, the king refused to see him).He proclamed the king in open and avowed rebellion and this was the end a-of communication between the king and colonist.

On the last part, the writer focus on the british people and the parlement, he uses the word brethern to show they were brother in religion and throught religion they were in the same family, he is going to use a spun metaphor of family ties.The british parlement made an illegal taxation on the colonist.

Jeffeson wants to suject that when they come to the new land i twas not an act against monarchie, but on the contrary it expand the land to the king and for economical reason. Jefferson flatters a little th british but then he says that being brother(common kindred)the colonist thought the parlement and the british took side with the king, thay have been deaf to the call for justice.They are on the same blood « consanguignity ».Jefferson says they did not choose to separate i sis a need, now english are like anny other country. « ennemies in war, friends in peace ».

He paved the way for a future reconciliation, tomorrow because of all those family ties wa have together we shall ba abble to be friend(diplomatic/trade..), i twas necessary not to destroy every futur possibility.

The last paragraphe is the formal declaration, they reminded to the general public that they are the representative to the US, when they broke all links to england they wanted to appear has very religious, it is an act of christian faith, the rightenouses of their intention.

They consider themself as the representatives of the good people, to all the cristian, the people that had a religious sense, it is to be opposed for the people that did not believed in god.

The document was going to be published, this united state colonist are and ought to be independant,they were moraly justified in their independance.All political band are disolved, they are a new nation with the power to levy taxes, to make war, have a diplomacy, do everything the independant nation do.They needed to be help financialy(by France), jefferson was looking ahead for this financial help.
He often closes a paragraph the same way he oppened it, this one is around God.He mention the war, of sacrifice to which they consented to be a free nation for ever.

This text is a very good illustration of the age of enlightement, wich gave a lot of place to reason, and logic, he is well buildn John Adams said that Jefferson has said nothing new, the all declaration was based on the philosopgy of Locke, but this ecco to the revolution in France, the noble phrasing of the declaration.This text is extraordinary blend with idealism and pragmatism, we have the idealistc composent « pursiut of happinness, life, liberty » and then the pragmatism when he analises the accusation against the king, the parlement, and finally at the end this magestic declaration, a sort of spiritual attitude at the end.This document is impregneted with the religious meaning.