What did the declaration of independence ultimately achieve for the US?

Question

Does that mean that pryor to july 4, 1776 We were not a "real" independent nation? If so, then what were we? Were we just America, but not the USA? If so what was the sinificance of THAT!? Pryor to 1776, was America still sovern, Or did we need to ask the Queen for permission to do certaint things as a nation?

Answer 1

very, very boring stuff.....

Answer 2

The Declaration of Independence achieved and created the United States of America.

Up until that time, the states were colonies of England. Each state had a governor who answered to the King of England. At the time of the Declaration, the King was George III. There was no representation in England for the colonies.

Each colony had their own money, laws, governing structures and it was not very uniform. England taxed the colonies very heavily, and suppressed business endeavors. The colonies were not allowed to act as a nation. Some endeavors were companies doing business just for the government of England.

The Declaration of Independence made the the US the US, instead of 13 colonies of England.

North America, remember is a continent. The continent includes Canada (which is still part of the UK), Mexico, Panama, Honduras and Guatamala among several others. Rulers of Europe at the time and before often referred to the "Americas."

The Americas were new strange lands with unfamiliar plant and animal species. Animals such as beavers, and bison were just as exotic as a giraffe.

When Spanish explorers first landed in the Americas they brought back with them new foods such as strawberries, cocoa (the main ingredient in chocolate), potatoes and corn.

The Americas were seen in the 1700's by Holland, Spain, France and England (the greatest powers then) as a wealth of natural resources for their own purposes.

Many of the leading people of the colonies tried to negotiate with England regarding setting up governments, or sending representatives to England. England's stance was that the colonies had no power to negotiate. That changed on July 4, 1776. Powerful men elected and representing all 13 colonies got together and argued for about 2 weeks. Finally, they came together and agreed that the colonies could no longer be colonies, but should be INDEPENDENT of England or any other european control.

The Declaration, then allowed the revolutionary militaries to follow and to be funded. The army and navy of the new country was out-numbered, out financed and out-gunned by the British. It took years, gorilla warfare and an alliance with France to beat the British. In 1812, England tried AGAIN to assert it's authority over the US, and it was thwarted.

Hope this helps you understand a little bit more about how the USA was formed.

Answer 3

Signing the Declaration of Independence announced to the world that the former colonies of Great Britain were now a nation and why the steps to form a nation had been made necessary by the actions of King George III's government (not a queen as far as anyone was aware).

Answer 4

It meant the start of the war. When the Deceleration of Independence was sent, it told the British that we wanted to be our own country. At the time, we were still the 'British colonies.' No, we were not an independent country.

The 'Boston Tea Party' incident was evolved because the British were posting too high of taxes and controlling the Americans way of life. We were tired of being led by another country's government.

At the time, we were just the British colonies, run by the British Queen. We could not make any of our own laws. Yes, we needed permission for everything from the British government. We were not America, in a sense we were nothing.

Answer 5

We were colonies of England until the Revolutionary War. "American" in those days meant someone who lived on this continent, not someone who belonged to the United States. The colonies had their own governments for local affairs but they were all under the laws of England and the will of King George III.

At the time the Declaration was not that important of a document. But in retrospect it becomes very important because it was the first 'official' document that discussed the ideas basic to democracy, the idea that people can rule themselves. Thomas Jefferson believed that man was born free and that all people had the same rights--equal in the eyes of God and the law. He believed that people voluntarily gave up some of their rights in order to be governed, but that government governed by the consent of the governed. If a government failed to meet peoples' needs, it was their right and their DUTY to abolish that government and form another one.

This has become the standard philosophy for democracies around the world. But at the time it was a very radical idea! For centuries people had belived that God chose their leaders, so going against their king was like going against God. This principle was called 'The Divine Right of Kings'. There were writers and thinkers during this age who didn't believe this but the D of I was the first real official govt. document to lay it out in plain language.

At the end of the Declaration there is a list of the abuses that King George had done. Quartering troops in peacetime, passing taxes without representation, putting people in jail without charges or due process and confiscating their land and wealth, etc. etc. If you read it, these still make sense today as a list of things a good government should NOT do.

Answer 6

Before the Declaration, we were simply a large colony under British rule. We had to pay taxes to the king and follow British doctrine although it was not very harsh until the rebellion. Most grew apart from the British and began to consider America a sovereign nation, thus the declaration was written. Obviously the British were outraged at such sedition, and thus the war for our independence began.

Answer 7

~First of all, independence was not declared on July 4. It was declared on July 2 with the adoption of the Lee Resolution. Second, the July 4 declaration was not signed until August 2, 1776 when it came back from the printer. The language proposed by the Committee of Five was amended by the Second Continental Congress, approved and adopted by delegates of 12 colonies on July 4. New York joined in on July 9. There were 18 British colonies in North America before 1783, each separate and distinct and all with significant rights of self-government. After 1783, there were only five colonies left. The Canada Act of 1982 severed the final vestiges of dependence on the British Parliament, although the British monarch is still the head of state in Canada (as opposed to the Prime Minister who is the head of government).

The declaration contained nothing new, novel or unique. As Thomas Jefferson said when the committee submitted it, that was not the point or the intent. He and his fellow committeemen borrowed heavily from other sources such as the Virginia Resolution, the Lee Resolution, the Oath of Abjuration (the Dutch Republic declaration of independence -proclaimed in 1581, this was the first written declaration of independence known to the modern western world), the British Bill of Rights, the Virginia Declaration of Rights, the works of John Locke and the works of Thomas Paine, among others.

The "revolution" (actually a civil war or a war for national independence, NOT a revolution) was already in full swing by 1776 and the colonies had been in armed rebellion for almost two years already. The very fact that the Second Continental Congress was meeting pretty much establishes the treason if Bunker Hill, Ticonderoga, Quebec and Lexington and Concord didn't.

The colonies did not become a single unified nation until the Constitution was ratified on September 17, 1787, or, more accurately, until George Washington was inaugurated on April 30, 1789, or on March 4, 1789, when the first congress convened, although after the 1783 Treaty of Versailles, the confederation of colonies newly independent did call themselves The United States of America while acting under the Articles of Confederation (but even then, the newly created states considered themselves to be independent states bound together for 'the common good' and mutual defense - more in the nature of a commonwealth of states rather than a single nation).

Prior to the Treaty of Versailles, colonials were British subjects and citizens (at least those born in the colonies or of British stock or who had legally acquired British citizenship). After the outbreak of hostilities, the 1/3 of the population who supported the war and independence may have been terrorists and treasonous traitors, but they remained British subjects all the same. As such, they were fully represented in Parliament (at least to the extent that any other British subject was), but largely exempt from many British laws.

The interesting thing about "taxation without representation" is that the colonies were represented (they never asked to have any seats from the colonies in Parliament) and the heinous taxes of which they complained were, in fact, far lower than the taxes which they replaced. Prior to the Seven Years War, the taxes weren't collected. After that war, the folks back in England and Scotland and Wales and Ireland who had financed the defense of the colonies were on the verge of financial collapse and the King and Parliament figured it was about time the colonials picked up some of the tab. The war being over, the colonials figured they shouldn't have to pay. The Boston Tea Party resulted when the New England smugglers were actually called upon to pay the taxes they had ignored for years. The British trade laws were designed to protect the economy of Great Britain as a whole and while the southern planters and northern merchants and shippers may have suffered as a result, the concern at home was the the empire in its entirety, not just a small piece of it. Of course, that didn't sit well with the colonists because they only considered themselves "British" when the French and Indians came knocking on their doors or when they needed money from home.

After Bacon's Rebellion in 1676, the Crown realized it was necessary to keep British troops in North America, but after 1763, the numbers of troops really began to swell. Just as in any other British domain, if there was insufficient housing or available barracks, the troops were quartered in homes. Such was the duty of ALL British landowners, wherever they may be. The colonists were always subject to the will of Parliament and the King, but from 1607 onward, they pretty much did as they pleased and ignored the fiats from their rightful rulers. It rapidly started to come to a head after the Seven Years War until the shooting started on April 19, 1775, when British troops marched to Lexington to seize a cache of arms stored there and Concord to arrest the traitors John Hancock and Sam Adams and were fired on by terrorists hiding in the bushes along the way.

Having read what was posted ahead of this, do you start to understand why you should do your own research. For instance, the War of 1812 is called "Mr. Madison's War" for a reason. It was not started by the British. They had their hands full with Napoleon and the Peninsular campaign at the time. Heck, the New England States threatened to secede from the Union over that one, but the Southern states convinced them they had no right to do so and that it would be stupid for them to do it even if they could. The Declaration is a model for nothing. It is a nice piece of prose, but contained no new ideas, as the authors freely admitted. The real document of significance is the Constitution which, coupled with the French Constitutions from 1789 onward and the various British Bills of Rights are that which modern democracies emulate.

Answer 8

The declaration of Independence was also a way of basically sticking out our tongues at the King. Do you remember John Hancock's signature and how famous it is? He was well known in England and had been very loyal to the king at one point. He said the reason he signed the declaration so big was so that the king could read it without his glasses on!

Answer 9

No, not until we actually an independent state until 1783 when the Treaty of Paris was signed. The Declaration started the Revolution, but if we did not win it, it would have been a moot point.

Also, Britain was ruled by a king, not queen, in the 18th century.

Answer 10

pryor? as in richard pryor? you mean prior! now, the declaration of independence meant in the strongest words as possible that america isn't going to take this salutary neglect from england. after years of being left alone & then suddenly being noticed & taxed anew, this just couldn't be allowed. along with other slights, the americas, who were so far removed from the 'mother' country that they felt no attachment, were anyone's pawns. what? suddenly you know who we are when you didn't care a wit for us other times? you are engaged in a french-indian war, think it's up to the american colonies to share the cost when it's your conflict with france, etc.? does england have a brass set or what? thinking along those lines, america declared it's intent to free themselves from england. no! we weren't free of english law & rule - not really! we were free to interpret as we saw fit but still were tethered to the english crown. after 1787, we were free of all prior ties but that wouldn't really happen for another 20 year or so. change is hard & takes time. we still speak english & our laws are based on the common law of england. somethings evolved but not changed. huh? asking what queen to do what? i think you have USA confused with canada. canada is looking now to go independent. america, aka USA, is & has been free from england for some 221 years. viva america!