Patrick Henry's Response To The Declaration Of Independence

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Pages: 3

In the Declaration of Independence, it is portrayed that the people are oppressed by a tyrannous king in a far away land. They strike back to fight for their rights to have a government that fights for the people's "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" (1 Jefferson). They believe in a new government that acknowledges the needs of the people and the only way to do this is to create their own country, one that they can found on their ideals and the government is controlled by the people, and leaders are chosen, not by who was born to who, but by the people whose lives they will affect with the decisions that they make. Up until now, the king has made decisions for people he will never meet and he has disrespected them too many times by not …show more content…
Jefferson mentions in his autobiography that there was discussion about accusing the king of being a part of slavery that was taken out because everyone felt they had a part in slavery as well, some wanting to continue it. The leaders are not ready to kill slavery yet, but why? These revolutionaries compare themselves to slaves in Patrick Henry's speech to the Virginia Convention, "they are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging" (Henry 1) the king is just using them and they get nothing in return. The government's job is to work for the people, so when they do not achieve this, Congress says that they need to cut themselves off from it and create a government that works for them, in a way that is fair to all men. It is not easy for the Declaration to be upheld, it is a war of the underdogs versus the big bad wolf of the British Empire. A theme throughout these documents from early in the United States history is that we are setting things right, that we are starting fresh with everyone, from the smallest man to the biggest man having a say in how his country is