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##  Teaching the Declaration of Independence. ERIC Digest.                       

The Declaration of Independence is the founding document of the                 United States of America.  It is part of the social studies core                curriculum in schools throughout the United States.  Students, by               the time they graduate from high school, are expected to know the               main ideas in the Declaration of Independence and their significance            in the American heritage.  This Digest discusses (1) the origins of             the Declaration of Independence, (2) the structure and key ideas of             the document, (3) how to teach the document, and (4) World Wide Web             sites on the document for teachers and learners. ORIGINS OF THE               DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.During June and July of 1776, the               main question facing the Second Continental Congress at Philadelphia            revolved around independence: should the American colonies                      represented at this Congress declare their separation and freedom               from the United Kingdom of Great Britain?  After intense debate, the            delegates voted on July 2, 1776 in favor of Richard Henry Lee's                 resolution for independence.  On July 4, the Congress discussed and             approved, with a few changes, the formal Declaration of Independence            written by Thomas Jefferson on behalf of a five-person committee                appointed by Congress (Maier 1997; McClellan 1989). 
During July               and August 1776, the Declaration of Independence was printed and                distributed throughout the newly proclaimed United States of                    America.  Americans recognized immediately that this document                   expressed widely held ideas about the proper purposes of government             and the rights of individuals.  George Mason expressed the same                 ideas about government and rights in similar words in Articles I-III            of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which was drafted and                    approved a few weeks before the Declaration of Independence.  Many              years later Jefferson acknowledged that the Declaration of                      Independence was "intended to be an expression of the American mind"            and not an original or innovative statement (Schechter 1990,                    138-145; Spalding 2002, 79). STRUCTURE AND KEY IDEAS.The                  Declaration of Independence can be divided into four main parts. The            first part is an introduction that states the purpose of the                    document, which was to explain why the American people were                     declaring independence from the government of Great Britain. 
The              second part is a theory of good government and individual rights                generally accepted by Americans from the 1770s until today.  In this            theory, all individuals are equal in their possession of certain                immutable rights.  These rights are not granted by the government.              Rather, they are inherent to human nature.  Therefore, the first                purpose of a good government is to secure or protect these rights.              Further, a good government is based on the consent of the                       governed -- the people -- who are the sole source of the                        government's authority.  If their government persistently violates              this theory of good government, then the people have the right to               overthrow it. 
The third part of the document is a list of                     grievances against King George III, who was singled out to represent            the actions of the British government.  These grievances are                    examples of actions that violated the criteria for good government              stated in the second part of the Declaration of Independence.  These            grievances, therefore, justify separation from the King's bad                   government and establishment of a good government to replace                    it. 
The fourth and final part of the document is an unqualified               assertion of sovereignty by the United States of America.  It                   proclaims the determination of Americans to defend and maintain                 their independence and rights. TEACHING STRATEGIES.The main               ideas of the Declaration of Independence are essential to a good                education for citizenship in the United States.  These ideas are                common cords of civic identity by which unity is forged and                     maintained among the diverse ethnic, religious, and racial groups               within the United States.  Following are five strategies for                    teaching the Declaration of Independence through the social studies             curriculum in schools. 
1.  Introduce core ideas of the Declaration            of Independence to students in grades four and five; at these grades            they typically study state history and United States history.                   Return to the core ideas of the document in cycles of increasing                complexity and depth in middle school and high school courses in                United States history and world history. 
2.  Teach the document in            the context of the American War of Independence and the founding of             the United States of America (Berns 1985). 
3.  Connect ideas in               the document to events and issues in different periods of United                States history from the founding era to the present. For example,               relate the idea of "unalienable rights" to the abolitionist movement            of the 1830s and 1840s, to the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, and             to the causes and consequences of the Civil War (Jaffa 2000).                   Connect ideas in the Declaration of Independence to struggles for               equal justice under law of the civil rights movement of African                 Americans and to the women's rights movement (Pyne and Sesso                    1995). 
4.  Connect ideas in the document to events and issues in              modern world history that pertain to the advancement of democracy               and human rights in different parts of the world.  For example,                 examine the influence of the Declaration of Independence on the                 democratic revolutions in various countries during the 19th and 20th            centuries.  Show the influence of the Declaration of Independence on            the Preamble of the 1948 "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" of             the United Nations.  Finally, examine with the students the impact              of ideas in the Declaration of Independence on the worldwide human              rights movement, which began in the latter half of the 20th                     century (Adler 1987). 
5.  Discuss with students the global                    prospects for democracy and individual rights predicted by Thomas               Jefferson in 1826, the year of the 50th anniversary of the                      Declaration of Independence.  On June 24, 1826, Jefferson                       wrote, "May it be to the world what I believe it will be, to some               parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all, the signal . . .             to assume the blessings and security of self-government . . .  All              eyes are opened or opening to the rights of man" (Schechter 1990,               448). Investigate with students events in the global history of                 democracy and human rights that exemplify Jefferson's prediction.               Speculate with students about the prospects for democracy and human             rights in the 21st century.  Finally, emphasize that the Declaration            of Independence has global significance because it set a standard               for liberty and justice under law to which all people in the world              may aspire. WORLD WIDE WEB SITES.Resources for teaching and               learning about the Declaration of Independence and events and                   documents related to it are available at the following Web                      sites: 
*  U.S. Founding Documents.  This site, a project of the               law school of Emory University, includes copies of the Declaration              of Independence and related documents of the founding era.                      www.law.emory.edu/FEDERAL/ 
*  National Archives and Records                   Administration: Digital Classroom, Teaching with Documents.  This               site contains reproducible copies of primary documents and teaching             activities based on documents pertaining to periods of U.S. history             from the American Revolution to the present.                                    www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/teaching_with_documents.html 
*             The Founders' Almanac: Primary Documents of the Founding.  This                 site, established by the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC,                 introduces and explains the Declaration of Independence and other               great documents of the American founding era.                                   www.heritage.org/research/features/almanac/documents.html 
*  The              American Revolution and Its Era, 1750-1789.  This site from the                 Library of Congress American Memory collections contains documents              about the founding of the United States.                                        lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/collections/revolt/index.html                      REFERENCES AND ERIC RESOURCESThe following list of resources              includes references used to prepare this Digest.  The items followed            by an ED number are available in microfiche and/or paper copies from            the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS).  For information                 about prices, contact EDRS, 7420 Fullerton Road, Suite 110,                     Springfield, Virginia 22153-2852; World Wide Web: edrs.com;                     telephone numbers are (703) 440-1400 and (800) 443-3742.  Entries               followed by an EJ number, annotated monthly in CURRENT INDEX TO                 JOURNALS IN EDUCATION (CIJE), are not available through EDRS.                   However, they can be located in the journal section of most larger              libraries by using the bibliographic information provided, requested            through Interlibrary Loan, or ordered from commercial reprint                   services. 
Adler, Mortimer.  "We Hold These Truths."  PHI DELTA                KAPPAN 69 (December 1987): 268-274.  EJ 363 377. 
Berns,                       Walter. "Teaching the Founding of the United States." TEACHING                  POLITICAL SCIENCE 13 (Fall 1985): 5-12.  EJ 330 536. 
Bonevac,                 Daniel.  "The Forgotten Principles."  TEXAS EDUCATION REVIEW                    1 (Spring 2000): 5-9.  EJ 625 856. 
Jaffa, Harry V.  A NEW BIRTH OF            FREEDOM: ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE COMING OF THE CIVIL WAR.  Lanham,              MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2000. 
Maier, Pauline.                    AMERICAN SCRIPTURE: MAKING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.  New                York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997. 
McClellan, James.  LIBERTY, ORDER,               AND JUSTICE: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES OF                AMERICAN GOVERNMENT.  Washington, DC: Center for Judicial Studies,              1989.  ED 375 026. 
National Archives.  "OUR LIVES, OUR FORTUNES,              AND OUR SACRED HONOR." THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.  Washington,            DC: The National Archives and Records Administration, 1993.  ED 364             452. 
National Endowment for the Humanities.  DECLARE THE CAUSES:              THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE -- UNDERSTANDING ITS STRUCTURE AND              ORIGIN. Washington, DC: National Endowment for the Humanities,                  2001.  ED 455 517. 
Patrick, John J., Ed.  FOUNDING THE REPUBLIC: A            DOCUMENTARY HISTORY. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995.  ED 393               739. 
Pyne, John, and Gloria Sesso.  "The Declaration of                       Independence: To What Extent Did It Have Meaning for African                    Americans."  OAH MAGAZINE OF HISTORY 9 (Spring 1995): 36-45.  EJ 512            764. 
Schechter, Stephen L., Ed.  ROOTS OF THE REPUBLIC: AMERICAN              FOUNDING DOCUMENTS INTERPRETED.  Madison, WI: Madison House,                    1990. 
Spalding, Matthew.  THE FOUNDERS' ALMANAC: A PRACTICAL GUIDE            TO THE NOTABLE EVENTS, GREATEST LEADERS, AND MOST ELOQUENT WORDS OF             THE AMERICAN FOUNDING.  Washington, DC: The Heritage Foundation,                2002. 
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This project has been funded at least in part with              Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education under contract              number ED-99-CO-0016.  The content of this publication does not                 necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of             Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or              organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.  ERIC                   Digests are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced and               disseminated. 
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John J. Patrick is Director of the ERIC                 Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education, Director             of the Social Studies Development Center, and Professor of                      Education, Indiana University, Bloomington.                                  **Title:** Teaching the Declaration of Independence. ERIC Digest.                       **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education, 2805            East Tenth Street, Suite 120, Bloomington, IN 47408. Tel:                       800-266-3815 (Toll Free); Fax: 812-855-0455; e-mail:                            [email protected]; Web site: http://ericso.indiana.edu.                     **Descriptors:** Classroom Techniques, Core Curriculum,  Democracy, Elementary                   Secondary Education, Heritage Education, Public Schools, Social                 Studies, United States History, World Wide Web                               **Identifiers:**  Declaration of Independence, ERIC Digests                                   
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