Thomas Jefferson Response To The Declaration Of Independence

1. The grievance that stands out the most to me is the one where The King kept standing armies among the colonies even in times of peace. To keep an army in the States shows that The King never wanted the colonies to be equal to Great Britain. The fact that The King never respected any attempt from the colonies to establish a government and would repeatedly dissolve Representative Houses is surprising to me. The way that Thomas Jefferson lists these charges leads me to believe that Great Britain would just assume the colonies not exist outside of being subjects to the throne. Thomas Jefferson wrote, “ He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.” This makes it evident that The King would destroy the system of government that the colonies tried to institute. The King would then take his time in
replacing these positions or not replace them at all leaving the colonies vulnerable.
2.
I think if I lived in Thomas Jefferson’s time I would have believed his argument. I’m sure most people lived through the aggression’s that The Declaration of Independences list. These charges against The King were probably talked about by many. The fact that Thomas Jefferson had the audacity to put in into writing and sign it along with fifty-five other people might be one of the most courageous acts in recorded history. The dangers of declaring independence are the retaliation people could have endured. Thomas Jefferson wrote in his argument, “For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences.” The King had no problem in collecting people who opposed him and holding phony trials to dispose of that person. The agreement is very dangerous because Thomas Jefferson isn’t attacking policy he’s calling The King out by
name.
3. After two hundred and thirty-nine years our country is still relatively young. I don’t think we have fully achieved the ideas of Thomas Jefferson. I do believe we are getting closer. There are many improvements we have made as a society in equality. There is room for much more improvement. We should as a nation make a conscience effort to actively search for Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. When events happen that cause our country to lose sight of the principles our country were founded on, we should reread The Declaration of Independence.