The Declaration of Independence declared that the thirteen American colonies would remove themselves from British rule. Richard Henry Lee first announced the country’s resolution to separate itself from England in June of 1776, and after Congress agreed to sever all political ties between the two countries, they drafted what today is known as the Declaration of Independence.
On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and on July 4, the Declaration of Independence was adopted. Thomas Jefferson was chosen to draft the Declaration with four other members (Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams), and it was signed by 56 delegates in Philadelphia.
The statement argued that a group of people have the right to change governments “if that government becomes oppressive (unfair and controlling.)” Jefferson justified this by saying that a government would fail if its people didn’t consent to those that governed, and “…Since Parliament clearly lacked the consent of the American colonists to govern them, it was no longer legitimate.”
