POLS 1101 Jan 9 2013 Declaration of Independence Analysis We hold these Truths to be self evident The truths are so clear no evidence is needed Truth is capitalized meaning it was very important to them The colonies are separating themselves from a government which is controlled by a monarchy They made the DOI to show the radical change they were wanting to make This was the first democracy in 2300 years since Athens Greece That all Men are created equal They say all men are equal but what do they really mean by this The meaning varied dramatically from person to person The people who wrote this were all literate white males who owned property and slaves They may have considered men to be people just like themselves Some meant men women children slaves free people skilled unskilled etc Today we consider ALL people This is very radical because it means any person is literally equal to the king for instance That they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights We were created born to have rights that cannot be taken away from us We don t get rights from a king government We are born with the rights and no government can take them away We call these civil liberties That among these are life liberty and pursuit of happiness There is no guarantee of happiness but we are free to make our own decisions Life but what about abortion and the death penality To secure these rights Governments are instituted among men Purpose of the government is to protect our rights Deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed The government gets their powers from us Whenever any form of government becomes destructive it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it Government is accountable to our needs Jefferson believed it was inevitable to be trampled on so many changes would need to be made POLS 1101 Jan 9 2013 To institute new government laying its foundation on such principles and organize its Powers in such forms as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness Federalist 51 James Madison was a founder and became president after Jefferson Madison also helped write the Constitution Madison thought many people are ambitious greedy If we accept people that are naturally greedy we do not want them in office with power So we need a system that is not too strong or too weak Critical Points from Federalist 51 4th Paragraph o If Men were angels no government would be necessary o If angels controlled men no government would be necessary o But we are not angels o We need to separate powers so it is not all in one place Legislative write laws Executive enforce laws Judicial settle disputes o If one is too powerful they are put in check by other branches o Ambition must be made to counter ambition o Additional security Federalism Division of power between the national and state governments These are subdivided into departments
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