The Declaration of Independence and its Legacy.
What is the Declaration of Independence?
This document, adopted in 1776, announced the American colonies’ independence from Great Britain.
What are Loyalists?
This term describes American colonists who remained loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution.
What is slavery?
This system of forced labor was still legal in many states after the American Revolution.
What are yeomen?
These were small farmers who owned and worked their own land during the American Revolution.
What is the American Revolution?
This late 18th-century revolution created an independent United States and helped inspire others across the Atlantic world.
Who is Thomas Jefferson?
This primary author of the Declaration later became the third President of the United States.
Who is King George III?
Loyalists supported this king of Great Britain during the American Revolution.
Who are enslaved African Americans?
This group of people did not gain freedom despite the Revolution’s ideals of liberty and equality.
What are artisans?
These skilled workers, such as blacksmiths and carpenters, played an important role in colonial society.
What is the French Revolution?
This 1789 revolution in Europe overthrew a monarchy and promoted ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity.
What is “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”?
This phrase from the Declaration lists three unalienable rights given to all people.
What is Canada?
Many Loyalists moved to this country after the war to remain under British rule.
What is Pennsylvania?
This northern state was the first to begin gradual emancipation after the Revolution.
What is the right to vote?
The Revolution increased political participation for these groups, allowing more of them to gain this right.
What is Haiti?
This Caribbean colony became the first nation led by formerly enslaved people after a successful revolution in 1804.
Who is John Locke?
This European Enlightenment philosopher’s ideas about natural rights strongly influenced the Declaration.
What is fear of political instability?
This was a common reason Loyalists opposed independence, fearing it would bring chaos or loss of order.
What is the conflict between liberty and slavery?
This contradiction highlighted how the Revolution promoted freedom while allowing slavery to continue.
What is republicanism?
This idea, strengthened by the Revolution, emphasized equality and opportunity for ordinary working people.
What is natural rights?
This Enlightenment idea, spread during the Atlantic Revolutions, argues that people have natural rights that governments must protect.
What is consent of the governed?
This idea from the Declaration means that the government gets its power from the permission of the people it governs.
What is the Treaty of Paris (1783)?
This 1783 agreement officially ended the American Revolution and affected the fate of Loyalists.
Who is Phillis Wheatley?
This enslaved poet used her writing to challenge slavery and advocate for freedom during the Revolutionary era.
What is expanded suffrage?
This shift after the Revolution reduced property requirements in some states, expanding political power for yeomen and artisans.
Who is Simón Bolívar?
This Latin American leader, known as “El Libertador,” helped lead independence movements across several South American countries.