hello and welcome to our revolutionary war lecture today we're looking at what was the purpose of the declaration of independence what was the greatest weakness of the continental congress and the articles of confederation and finally which tactics either guerrilla-style warfare or traditional european warfare did each side use in the revolutionary war and we'll be continuing that talk in the next lecture as well so to help us understand the declaration i need you to imagine writing a breakup letter but not just any breakup letter you and your soon-to-be ex-significant other ran in the same group of friends long before you dated and you know that your soon-to-be ex will show this letter to your group of friends because you know him or her and they will try to make the breakup appear to be your fault they'll argue that you're being unreasonable and they will try to convince that group of friends to remain friends with them after the breakup and not with you so you have to imagine that you're going to write this breakup letter to your ex but the point really is to direct your friend's anger at your ex and not at you to make you look good so that those friends stay friends with you and kind of kick your ex out of the group it should convince them to remain friends with you and to invite you to the next group outings and not your ex and it should convince them that the breakup was the best thing for all parties that there was no point to continuing this relationship that just wasn't working all good breakup letters start with an introduction explaining that you're breaking up and why it has come to this point a list of what is expected in a relationship and specific examples of misbehavior and mistreatment usually follows and this kind of explains why the author has come to this decision and then basically you restate that the relationship really is over and you typically wrap up with something that you probably don't even mean like this is for the best it's not you it's me you know that kind of stuff so here is an example of a breakup letter one of my face-to-face classes last semester came up with following this outline and explains why we're breaking up and lists the behaviors in the relationship then restates that it is over and wraps it up all while trying to convince our friends to stay friends with us so let's take a look dear sam i'm sorry it has come to this but i believe it's best to part ways you're not consistently supportive of me you're always jealous of our friends and don't like me hanging out with them you're so controlling and you try to tell me who i can hang out with which is not acceptable i'll always cherish the time we had together but it must come to the end come to an end thanks for the months us and this is what it looks like when we turn that breakup letter format into a declaration of independence it still explains that the colonies are breaking up with great britain why and lists the misbehaviors in the relationship so it restates that this is over and then wraps it all up all while trying to convince other allies and nations like france and spain to stay friends with the colonies so let's take a look dear king george iii i'm sorry it has come to this but i believe it is best to part ways you're not consistently supportive of the american colonies you're always jealous of our allies and don't like us trading with them you're so controlling and you try to tell me who i can trade with which is not acceptable i'll always cherish the time we had together but it must come to an end thanks for the decades of benign neglect the united states so america was founded on the ultimate breakup letter the declaration of independence the second continental congress voted on july 2nd to declare independence then they just had to justify that decision and explain it to the people they represented to great britain and to the rest of the world including those needed allies like france and spain so the founders who wrote the declaration believed america was being crippled by taxes exploited by england and parliament and not being treated as well as they deserved the declaration says quote when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another which in breakup letter basically translates to there comes a point in every relationship when two people just can't work it out and have to break up and move on regardless of all of the good times the declaration says the history of the present king of great britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations all having indirect object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states he has refused his ascent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good now the breakup letter version of that for the longest time you've neglected me you've disrespected me you take me for granted you try to control every aspect of my life you no longer tell me you love me that i'm beautiful or that you care about my happiness now jefferson argued quote this was the object of the declaration of independence not to find out new principles or new arguments never before thought of not merely to say things which had never been said before but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject so he's kind of hinting at thomas paine there in terms so plain and firm as to command their ascent and to justify ourselves in the independent stand we are compelled to take neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment nor excuse me not yet copied from any particular in previous writing it was intended to be an expression of the american mind and to give that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion all of its authority rests on the harmonizing sentiments of the day whether expressed in conversations letters printed essays or in the elementary books of public right as aristotle cicero lock sydney etc so the very first part of the declaration justifies the decision to declare independence and it offers a set of natural rights principles remember we've talked a lot about those as a a basis for these this new independent america the middle part by far was the most controversial it details the grievances the things done wrong by king george iii and the conclusion actually declares independence now there's three main aims of the declaration and make sure you know them it directed anger and frustration at the king that's why the list of grievances addresses the king directly and not just parliament remember the colonists still liked the king that was the one tie that had to be broken that's why thomas paine directs his anger and arguments at the king and that's why jefferson and the other writers of the declaration did so as well second it created international legitimacy for the united states as a new nation trying to get foreign alliances so it is written in such a way that it is fully intended that it will be read by france and spain and these other nations that might become allies of the colonies now the united states in their fight against great britain and third it established a political right to rebellion basically it justified treason under very specific circumstances the declaration said that all men asterisk were created equal and had equal rights but about 60 to 85 percent of adult white men in the colonies actually owned enough property to vote so there was a greater proportion of voters in the colonies than anywhere in the 18th century world so even though we do need to put an asterisk next to that idea of all men being created equal as the declaration tells us it's more true in the colonies than it is anywhere else in the 18th century world the declaration argued that george iii had failed to protect his colonial subjects rights that the king not just parliament was at fault the same reasoning as payne the largest portion of the declaration is that list of grievances to prove britain had failed to protect the colonists liberties they wrote quote a long train of abuses and usurpations pursuing invariably the same object event is a design to reduce them meaning the colonists under absolute despotism independence that is rebellion against one's government is an extraordinary act it's a last resort so it required an elaborate justification abuses compiled compounded over years and years the continental congress did not consider independence for more than a year after the first shots were fired at lexington and concord the war starts long before it's about independence initially it's about regulating that relationship with great britain it only becomes a war for independence a full year into it and many colonists did not embrace the decision to declare independence this included some who believed that britain had violated colonists basic rights but that the violation was not enough to warrant rebellion or that the colonists could not possibly win such a rebellion and although jefferson gets the lion's share of historical credit this was a group effort including the input of benjamin franklin john adams roger sherman and robert livingston in fact the reason they didn't give it to franklin to write is they were all convinced he would write dirty jokes in it and i'm not making that up in the final stage members of the continental congress offered their suggestions which were not entirely welcomed by jefferson last on jefferson's original list as you read about in project 1619 of grievances in his original draft was slavery and his longest and angriest grievance against the king jefferson blamed george iii for slavery saying quote he has waged cruel war against human nature itself violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty and the persons of a distant people who never offended him captivating and carrying them into slavery jefferson further blamed king george for lord dunmore's proclamation saying he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them by murdering the people upon which he also obtruded them thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of the one people with crimes which he commit urges them to commit against the lives of another so he's blaming king george for slavery and then he's blaming king george for denmark's proclamation which would have incited slave rebellion basically by offering to free those slaves who fight patriots now jefferson's writing all this as a slave owner so obviously it's a bit hypocritical here but they all agree slavery is bad so they are still going to try to blame the king for slavery of course knowing this full stance is a bit hypocritical the other founders get him to remove this line and the only thing that is left is this grievance in which the king has incited domestic insurrection right that's slave rebellion abigail adams complained to her husband john quote i cannot but feel sorry that some of the most manly sentiments in the declaration are expunged the declaration of independence is written by a slaveholder and ever since it has been seen as a challenge something that americans should try to live up to and make good on it has also been used as a template for others declaring independence or asserting their rights even into the 20th century dozens of other nations have basically used this format for their own declaration even the colony of vietnam when it declared independence against france did so using basically the american declaration of independence so proceed to the next part of the lecture page to hear a very dramatic reading of the declaration it is certainly over the top but i think it will keep your attention and you will enjoy it