The Declaration of Independence
When in the Course of Human Events...
More Declaration Resources
Here is a collection of other resources on the ushistory.org website relating to the Declaration of Independence.
Understanding the Declaration
Here is material from a lesson plan on the Declaration that provides insight into the meaning of the various sections of the Declaration.
- Reading the Declaration
- Introduction to the Declaration
- The Preamble
- Indictment Against King George III
- Denunciation of the British People
- Conclusion
Background of Events Leading to the Creation of the Declaration
In our ushistory.org American History Textbook, we present a detailed history of the events leading to the Declaration of Independence. If you are interested in learning more, a good place to start is here.
Other Primary Source Resources
Orations and newspaper clippings to help provide historical perspective to the changing, and in many ways, changeless, views of the Declaration of Independence through time.
- America Seated Among The Nations (1780), by Jonathan Mason, 1780
- Americans Will Celebrate 1775 As A "Glorious Era", by John Wilkes, 1780
- Independence: A Solemn Duty, by Richard Henry Lee
- A Nation Born in a Day, by John Quincy Adams, July 4, 1821
- "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" by Frederick Douglass, July 4, 1852
- Thomas Jefferson Selected as the Author Because Richard H. Lee Was Absent, The New York Times, 1917
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