the year is 1776. tensions had been rising in the american colonies for years and emotions read a tipping point the second continental congress was already in session in philadelphia pennsylvania when the cries for independence grew too fierce to ignore the time had come to formally separate from great britain on june 11 1776 a committee of five men were chosen to draft the ultimate breakup letter john adams benjamin franklin roger sherman thomas jefferson and robert livingston over the course of 17 days a document was penned that would impact the lives of generations of people the declaration of independence [Music] thomas jefferson was the leader of the committee and was the main author of the declaration of independence he organized the document into different parts the preamble the declaration of natural rights the list of grievances and the resolution of independence the preamble was the introduction to the document and jefferson didn't mince words it says when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's god entitle them a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation in the words of a modern breakup letter great britain we're breaking up with you and you're about to find out why the next section is referred to as the declaration of natural rights in words that have been immortalized in the minds of generations of people this section explains that every citizen is born with certain rights that should never be taken away we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness it goes on to state that the power of government comes from the people and if the government abuses the rights of the people they have a right to throw off such government and provide new guards for their future security by this point in the document if it wasn't yet clear to great britain why america was separating from them the colonists were about to bring their receipts thomas jefferson really spilled the tea in the list of grievances where he set out to list all the complaints that the colonists had against king george iii what were the complaints you ask let's take a peek yeah he did that and that he definitely did that yeah that's a bad one even worse oh yeah there was a lot in the final section of the declaration of independence the colonists solemnly publish and declare that these united colonies are and of right to be free and independent states with those words the american colonists had charted a new path towards freedom on july 4th 1776 the declaration of independence was officially adopted by the second continental congress and a new nation was born hey everyone thanks for watching don't forget to hit the subscribe button down below and the like button to show some love i'll see you next time in the meantime keep pursuing history [Music] you