1. Visit goo.gl/d3BHJb to read Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Decla- ration of Sentiments, a speech about women’s rights written in 1848. Why do you think Stanton copied the Declaration of Independence? How are the two documents similar and different? Which of her complaints , if any, are still true today? 2. Based on the list of complaints the colonists levied against King George, how did the Declaration of Independence justify the Americans’ rebellion? 3. What words would you use to describe the early Americans who wrote the Declaration of Independence (e.g., “brave,” etc.)? How does the Declaration of Independence influence what it means to be an American, even today?
4. What impact has the Declaration of Independence had on our nation? On other nations around the world?
FREEDOM FACT
After Thomas Jefferson wrote his first draft of the Declaration, other members of the Continental Congress edited his draft, deleting about a fourth of it. Jefferson had
Among the signers of the Declaration of Independence , John Hancock signed first, with a large hand right in the middle because he was the president of the Congress. The oldest signer was Benjamin Franklin, age 70, while the youngest signer was Edward Rutledge, a lawyer from South Carolina who was only 26 years old at the time.
originally included language condemning King George for forcing the African slave trade on the American colonies.
1788
1787
1791
1789
Constitution is written at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia
Constitution is ratified by nine states and becomes the supreme law of the land
George Washington is elected as first president and first Congress meets in New York City (then the nation’s capital)
Bill of Rights (first 10 amendments) added to the Constitution
AMER I CA’ S LEGACY PRESENTED BY STUDENT GOVERNMENTAL AFFA I RS PROGRAM | 21
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