3 October 2013

It is common knowledge that every game has a set of general rules to follow. Without these set of rules, every situation eventually turns to chaos and disorder as the players behave as they wish to achieve their respective victories in any way possible. King George III, of Great Britain, played by his own set of rules. On July 1776, the Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson. It is easily one of the most important documents in our country’s history. It states the reasons the British colonies of North America sought independence from Great Britain and King George III. It opens with the preamble which describes the document’s necessity. The preamble also goes into detail explaining why the colonies chose to overthrow King George III and establish themselves as their own nation. America stands united and tall today on the principles set forth by the representatives of the original thirteen colonies. These principles may also be considered the most powerful “rules of the game”. These rules are spelled out in the United States Constitution, written in 1787 in Philadelphia, by a group of men known as The Framers. The Constitution is the United States’ first real establishment of our government system. Over 200 years old, it still serves as the framework for our government to this day. The Constitution sets out three distinct branches of national government: the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. These three branches act as a “check and balance” system with each other. The Constitution also granted Congress new abilities to not only control interstate commerce, but to also levy national taxes. In 1791, the Bill of Rights was ratified into the Constitution. The purpose of the Bill of Rights was to protect the citizens of the United States from any abuse of power that may be committed from any of the three branches of government. It spells out the civil liberties and/or rights of its citizens in which the government cannot infringe upon.
“When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another…” (Goldfield, A-1). These words are the start to one of the most influential documents in our nation’s history. Its eloquent wording shows the courage and conviction the colonists had towards their cause, despite the act of committing treason by writing this declaration. The Declaration of Independence’s purpose serves two-fold: it renounces British rule over the colonies as well as justifying the reasons for doing so. “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (Goldfield, A-1) are among the God given rights stated within the document that each and every person is entitled to, whether that person is a king, a commoner or anything in between. It goes on to state that there is an agreement between the government and the governed. When this agreement is breeched, it is the right of the governed to replace that government. However, in order to do this, just cause must be established and proven. The Declaration then goes on to list twenty three cases as facts in which King George III committed to the States. A few of those listed atrocities are as follows:
He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspend in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend them […]. He has dissolved representative houses for opposing, with manly firmness, his invasion on the rights of people […]. He has kept among us, in time of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures […]. For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world. For imposing taxes on us without our consent […]. (Goldfield A-1).

Based upon their arguments and evidence presented in the Declaration, the colonists