United States Declaration of Independence

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/united-states-declaration-of-independence

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. Who wrote United States Declaration of Independence?Thomas Jefferson
2. What is the location of adoption?Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
3. What is the date of adoption?July 4, 1776
4. What was the Declaration of Independence and why was it important?It was a paper that said the thirteen colonies were no longer part of Britain and wanted to be free. It explained why the colonies thought they should be independent and helped start the United States.
5. Why did the American colonies want to get rid of British taxes?They believed they should not be taxed because they had no representatives in Parliament. They called it "no taxation without representation."

Enlightenment: An intellectual and philosophical movement emphasizing reason, individualism, and human rights.
Social Contract Theory: The idea that governments are formed by the consent of the governed to protect their rights.
Popular Sovereignty: The principle that the authority of a state and its government are created and sustained by the consent of its people.