The Declaration of Independence: its parts, its ideas and its complaints

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   all men are created equal

   1775 to 1776. Card A, the Declaration (July 4, 1776; a public document from Congress): "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." Card B, a private letter (March 31, 1776; Abigail Adams to her husband John Adams, who was in Congress in Philadelphia; spelling modernized): "I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could." Card C, a private letter (April 14, 1776; John Adams to Abigail Adams): "As to your extraordinary Code of Laws, I cannot but laugh." Card D, a pamphlet (1775; Samuel Johnson, a British writer who opposed the colonists' claims, writing to persuade British readers): "… how is it that we hear the loudest yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes?"

2. 1.

   Card B is a private letter and card A is a public document. What can card B show that card A cannot, Ari asks?

   • What one woman privately thought about who was left out
   • What Congress officially decided about the rights of women
   • What the king would answer to the colonists' charges
   • What women across the colonies wanted from the new nation
3. 2.

   How should Bo read John Adams's 'I cannot but laugh' in card C?

   • As a joking brush-off of her request in a private letter
   • As proof that colonial men as a group opposed rights for women
   • As a formal ruling that women could not vote in any colony
   • As Congress agreeing to add the rights of women to its plans
4. 3.

   What point is Samuel Johnson making in card D, Esme asks?

   • Slavery is a disease that Britain sent over to the colonies
   • Merchants demand liberty more loudly than anyone else does
   • Enslaved people are the loudest voices now demanding liberty
   • People loudly claiming liberty are holding others in slavery
5. 4.

   Johnson wrote to persuade British readers against the colonists. What is the best way for Jun to use card D?

   • Ignore it entirely, since its author was a Briton
   • As one critic's charge, to check against other evidence
   • As proof that colonists did not care about liberty
   • Treat it as a neutral fact, since it was printed in 1775
6. 5.

   Cards A and D disagree about the colonists' claim to liberty. Why, Luz asks?

   • A colonist wrote card D and a Briton wrote card A
   • Card A is a neutral report and card D is an opinion
   • One was written after the war ended and one before it began
   • Card A states the colonists' case and card D attacks it

7. Source A, the Declaration (1776; capitals and punctuation modernized; cuts marked)

   "He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation: … For imposing taxes on us without our consent: … He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislatures." Also: "He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good." Also: "For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury." Source B, a timeline in our words from the Massachusetts Historical Society and the National Archives: 1765 and 1767: Parliament passes taxes on the colonies, including the Stamp Act and the Townshend duties. October 1768: British troops arrive in Boston in a time of peace. 1774: Parliament passes laws that put Massachusetts under tighter British control. Colonial leaders argue that Parliament has no right to tax them, because they elect no members to it, and that their tie is to the king alone.

8. 6.

   Source A says taxes were imposed 'without our consent.' Which colonial argument in source B does that echo, Noah asks?

   • Colonists agreed to each tax simply by trading with Britain
   • People who elect no members to Parliament should not be taxed
   • Armies should be kept in towns during peacetime alone
   • The king's permission was enough to make any tax fair
9. 7.

   British troops came to Boston in a time of peace in 1768. Which Declaration line responds to that, Pia asks?

   • 'For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury.'
   • 'For imposing taxes on us without our consent.'
   • 'He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislatures.'
   • 'He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.'
10. 8.

    Which statement about the Declaration's complaints is best supported by sources A and B, Ren asks?

    • The list establishes that the king broke the law in each case
    • The complaints began after the Declaration was approved
    • Several match events protested for years before 1776
    • Each complaint in the list matches a single event in 1774
11. 9.

    How do sources A and B suggest the colonists' main demand changed between 1765 and 1776, Tala asks?

    • From protesting Parliament's taxes to ending the king's rule
    • From blaming the king to blaming Parliament alone instead
    • From demanding independence to accepting the taxes in the end
    • From asking for independence in 1765 to avoid the later war
12. 10.

    Source A was written in 1776 and source B long after. What job is each best for, Zee asks?

    • A is the source for checking dates; B shows how Congress argued
    • B shows that each complaint in A was fair to the king
    • A alone is useful, since B was not written at the time
    • A shows how Congress argued; B helps check dates and events