Declaration Of Independence Quiz

The Declaration of Independence is one of the most important documents in American and world history. Adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the Declaration formally announced that the thirteen American colonies were no longer part of the British Empire and constituted a new, sovereign nation: the United States of America. More than a political document, the Declaration is a philosophical statement about the nature of human rights and the proper purposes of government that has inspired independence movements and democratic revolutions around the world for nearly 250 years.

The Document's Key Ideas and Authors

The Declaration's most famous passage - "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" - Draws directly on Enlightenment philosophy, particularly the ideas of John Locke. The document's primary author was Thomas Jefferson, a 33-year-old delegate from Virginia, assisted by a Committee of Five that also included John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. Jefferson wrote the first draft in just 17 days, and it was then revised by the committee and the Congress before adoption. Check out our American history quiz for more US history!

The Declaration of Independence lists 27 specific grievances against King George III of Britain to justify the separation. It argues that when a government fails to protect the natural rights of its people, those people have the right - Indeed the duty - To alter or abolish that government and establish a new one. The document was signed by 56 delegates from the 13 colonies over the following months (the signing was not completed on July 4 itself). The original document is currently displayed in the National Archives in Washington, D.C., alongside the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Its influence on the French Declaration of the Rights of Man, Latin American independence movements, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is profound. Try our presidents quiz for more!