Chapter 6 Section 2: The Colonies Declare
Independence
In this section, we will:
• Describe the impact of
Common Sense
• List the steps
Congress took to
declare independence.
• Summarize the main
ideas of the Declaration
of Independence.
1
Key vocabulary terms in this
section
• Common Sense
• preamble
• traitor
• natural rights
• Declaration of
Independence
Thomas Paine
2
Common Sense
• In 1776, many colonists believed that
Parliament did not have the right to make
laws for the 13 colonies.
• Most colonists still felt some loyalty
toward Britain however.
• Thomas Paine hoped to change colonists'
attitudes toward the King and Britain.
• His pamphlet called Common Sense said
the colonists owed no loyalty to King
George III or any monarch.
• Paine believed the very idea of having a
king or queen was wrong.
• Paine said that the
British had helped
the colonists for
their own profit.
• Common Sense
stressed the belief
that the colonies
needed to separate
from the mother
country.
• Paine argued " 'Tis
time to part."
3
Congress Votes for Independence: 1776
• Common Sense helped influence colonists toward supporting
independence.
• the pamphlet impressed members of the Continental Congress.
Making the Break
• delegates faced a
difficult choice, as
there would be no
turning back once
they declared
independence.
• if they were
captured by the
British they would be
hanged as traitors. A
traitor is a person
who betrays his or
her country.
4
• After a long debate,
Congress took the big step.
They appointed a committee to
draw up a formal declaration
of independence.
• the committee was made up
of some very important-and
familiar---names:
• John Adams, Ben Franklin,
Thomas Jefferson, Robert
Livingston & Roger Sherman.
• their task was to explain to
the world why the colonies
were breaking away from
Britain.
• Thomas Jefferson was a
gifted writer who was asked by
the others to write the
document.
5
• In late June, Jefferson finished the
document.
• July 2, 1776 the Continental Congress
voted that the 13 colonies were "free and
independent States."
• adopted the document on the night of
July 4, 1776.
• They then ordered the Declaration of
Independence to be printed.
• John Hancock signed first, in bold print.
(See copy being passed around the class)
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6
The Declaration of Independence
7
• The Declaration of
Independence
consists of a
preamble; or
introduction, followed
by three main parts.
The first section
stresses the
importance of natural
rights, or the rights
that belong to all
people from birth. It
also stresses that
governments can only
exist if they have
the consent of the
governed.
The second section points out
British wrongs that led the
Americans to break away from
Britain.
The third section announces that
the colonies are the United States
of America; an independent nation.
All ties with Britain are cut.
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