The Declaration of Independence a complete study guide
DIRECTIONS: Using the text that you have received,
define all of the KEY TERMS and answer all of the following
questions in complete sentences. Do this on a separate
sheet of paper. Must be hand written. Where your own words
are appropriate, write your own original answer.
Key Terms: Usurpations, Despotism, Abdicated,
Mercenaries, Desolation, Tyranny, Tyrant, Magnanimity,
Consanguinity, Acquiesce, Rectitude.
1. Which words indicate that Jefferson was worried about world
opinion as to why the colonies were dec ing their independence
from England?
2. Define the term "Unalienable?"
3. Which rights does Jefferson describe as "unalienable"?
4. List all of the instances that the author make a reference to
God.
5. Which phrase does Jefferson use to say "power to given comes from
permission given by the people?"
6. Which other important document in American history contains
wording similar to the rights Jefferson describes?
7. Which sentences were the first in the document to justify the
treason of the revolutionaries against the rule of the British
crown and Parliament?
8. Locate the paragraph that refers to the use of Hessian
Mercenaries by the British Crown.
9. Which sentence captures the essence of the Quartering Act of
1764?
10. Locate the paragraph that outlines...the efforts of the First and
Second Continental Congress to find some sort of Reconciliation
with the King.
11. Include all the sentences where Jefferson describes the
sovereignty of the new United States.
12. Which phrase demonstrates to the world that Jefferson and the
revolutionaries knew that they were taking a risk in declaring
independence?
13. Which sentences or phrases shows that the American colonists had
drifted in Culture and politics from the people and culture of
Great Britain?
14. Had the United States lost the War of Independence, how would the
Declaration have been used at Thomas Jefferson's Trial as
evidence in his defense or in his prosecution for treason? Make a
argument or case on this issue for either side.
15. In the Grievance section of the Declaration of Independence who
is the "He" the Colonists refer to?