declaration of independance?

Question

what documents influenced the declaration of independance, i know one of the documents was the magna carta...what was the other ones?

Answer 1

First, though the Magna Carta was highly regarded in English history, as a DOCUMENT it did not have any sort of direct influence on the Declaration of Independence.

Here is the BRIEF answer (I'll give detailed explanation and links below) --

If you want the IMMEDIATE predecessor I'd say "The CONSTITUTION of Virginia"** (though there were many similar constitutions being written at that time).

For the a major ENGLISH 'parent' I'd go back to the English Bill of Rights of 1689.**

** These are THE two documents to focus on

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AMERICA - STATE CONSTITUTIONS, esp. Virginia's

There are actually MANY documents in the background of the U.S. Declaration of Independence which helped to shape its structure and content, and even some of its language.

But, to begin with, if you want ONE document that may have been the most IMMEDIATE 'shaper' of the Declaration (though ITSELF going back to others), the answer would have to be the Virginia Constitution, adopted late in June 1776.

This is a little different from the typical answer people give -- the Virginia Declaration of Rights (VDR), penned by George Mason (June 6, 1776). It is true, however, that some language from the first few paragraphs of this document is reflected in the opening section of the Declaration of Independence. (If you continue on with it, you will also see the sort of language later used in the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution.)

The Virginia Constitution INCLUDES the VDR. But , but it ALSO goes on with another section, outlining the GRIEVANCES which justified the state's setting up its own new government, followed by a brief sketch of the form of this new government (as we expect with a "Constitution"). This section is based on a "Draft Constitution" written chiefly by Jefferson himself. (The committee charged with drafting the whole document was comprised of Jefferson, Mason and James Madison.) Note that the GRIEVANCE section parallels the central (main!) section of the US Declaration.


Here are the additional texts:

Draft Constitution - http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/jeffcons.htm

A copy of Jefferson's draft, with this editor's note -- "This draft profoundly . . was THE DIRECT PREDECESSOR of the Declaration of Independence. Shown here is Jefferson's litany of abuses by King George III, a topic of great weight in the Declaration."
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trt003.html

The Constitution of Virginia (as passed June 29, 1776)
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=105


BUT this is not a very historical way to look at it all! Because the language, structure and arguments of the VA documents was hardly brand new or unique! You will, in fact, find a number of parallel sorts of documents about the same time.

A couple of examples -- note esp the list of GRIEVANCES in them:
Constitution of New Hampshire - January 1776
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/nh09.htm
Constitution of South Carolina - March 26, 1776
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/sc01.htm

You also might want to look at some related language in documents from October 1774 -from the FIRST Continental Congress:
Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/resolves.htm
The Articles of Association
http://www.constitution.org/bcp/art_assoc.htm

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ENGLISH -- esp. "Bill of Rights" of 1689

But what was going on in these documents --listing rights and grievances-- was not something that suddenly sprang up in British American colonies of the 1770s! Rather, they all built on a well-established ENGLISH foundation. This was NOT first of all on John Locke's writings, as some think, but on actual POLITICAL DOCUMENTS with a history that goes back long before Locke.

The most important of these documents is the "English Bill of Rights" of 1689, explained in its formal title as "An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown"
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/england.htm

This document begins with list of GRIEVANCES/abuses (list of wrongs done by King James II, justifying his removal), followed by a list of RIGHTS, then the acknowledgment of William and Mary's rule (in light of their agreement with these 'terms'). Note that this document even FUNCTIONED much like the Declaration! It justified a major change of government, based chiefly on the listed wrongs of the monarch.

(And, as you may have guessed, its list of "rights" opposing the abuses is part of the inspiration for the many colonial letters and documents listing their complaints against the British government... including the list in the Declaration, AND later for the "Bill of Rights" for the U.S. Constitution .)

Answer 2

"Do you think our founders got it all wrong??" YES. But that doesn't make the whole document meaningless. The purpose of the document was to get separated from Britain. Today, Great Britain and the United States are DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. Did you know that? And so they accomplished what they set out to do! lol Did you realize that evolutionary theory wasn't even proposed by Darwin until 1851 and that the United States came into existence in 1776? It's not like founding fathers are demigods with infinite knowledge. They were just privileged dudes who lived in the 18th century who were passionate about freedom. Our knowledge has increased exponentially since then.