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The Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776

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The document announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain

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On June 7 Richard Henry Lee, a Virginian, asked the Continental Congress in Philadelphia to consider declaring independence from Great Britain

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The Congress appointed a committee of five to write the formal declaration. Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft. A few changes were suggested by other members of the committee: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston.

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Jefferson began the document by proclaiming a set of natural rights held by all and the responsibility of the government to protect those rights.

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The Declaration of Independence states three basic ideas:
1.God made all men equal and gave them the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

2.The main business of government is to protect these rights.

3.If a government tries to withhold these rights, the people are free to revolt and to set up a new government.

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On July 2 the Continental Congress accepted the idea of independence. It then debated the content of the Declaration over the next two days.

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First paragraphs of the declaration of independence

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First paragraphs of the declaration of independence

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"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.

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. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness".

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On April 19, 1775, the Battles of Lexington and Concord initiated armed conflict between Great Britain and the 13 North American colonies. At that time few of the colonists consciously desired to separate from Britain. But as the American Revolution proceeded during 1775–76

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On July 4 the Declaration of Independence was accepted by the representatives of 12 states. The New York delegation accepted it 11 days later.

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The Declaration was published in newspapers and read aloud to crowds in towns throughout the colonies.

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The Declaration of Independence put forth the doctrines of natural rights and of government under social contract.

The Declaration helped unify the colonies so that they all fought together instead of trying to make separate peace agreements with Britain.