Before 1776, the United States of America was not a country. The individual states were colonies of the British Empire. They were called British Colonies. This means that the King and Parliament of Great Britain ruled the Colonies. "Plundered our seas..." meant that the founding Fathers blamed the British for the American Revolution.
During this time, many American people were angry at Great Britain. Many Americans did not like paying taxes to Great Britain when they did not have anyone to speak for them in Parliament. The American people wanted to be treated like British citizens.
Responding to actions taken by Great Britain, including the Intolerable Acts, the different colonies formed a Continental Congress to make decisions for all of the colonies. They met in the American city of Philadelphia. During a meeting of the Second Continental Congress, on June 11, 1776, they chose five people to write a document that would become the Declaration of Independence. These people were:
The committee decided that one person would write the document, while the rest would give him advice on what to write. John Adams decided that Thomas Jefferson should write the document. He bought him a few drinks and told him that he was more qualified to write it because he was a Virginian and he was simply a better writer. Jefferson got to work.
In the Declaration, Jefferson starts by writing about people's rights, and what the government should and should not do. This part of the Declaration is called the Preamble. He then lists specific bad things that the British government did to the colonies. He says these included putting people in jail with no reason; making taxes that were too high; and not respecting people who lived in the colonies.
On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress argued about the Declaration and made some changes to it. After making changes, they approved the Declaration. They declared their independence from the British Empire that day, at the Pennsylvania State House.
However, the Continental Congress did not officially approve the Declaration until July 4. On that day, twelve of the thirteen groups that represented the colonies approved and ordered the Declaration to be printed. (The Province of New York did not vote.) This version of the Declaration was signed only by the President of the Congress, John Hancock.
On July 15, the New York group agreed with the rest of the colonies' groups. This meant that everyone in the Congress agreed on the Declaration.
On July 19, the Declaration's title was changed from "A Declaration of the Representatives of the United States of America in General Congress assembled" to "the unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States of America."
Overall, 56 men signed the Declaration. However, some people signed at different times. Many people signed a parchment paper copy of the Declaration on July 2. Many of these signers were not there when the original Declaration was adopted on July 4. One signer, Matthew Thornton, from the Province of New Hampshire, signed on November 4, 1776.
The Declaration of Independence had many different effects.
When the King of Great Britain, King George III, and Parliament heard about the Declaration, they were angry. Great Britain and the people in America had already been fighting in a war called the American Revolution. America won the war, and in 1783 Great Britain had to recognize the independence of the new country, the United States, at the Treaty of Paris.
The people of America know that the Declaration of Independence is very important. Every year on July 4, they have a holiday called 'Independence Day'. They celebrate this holiday to remember the day that the Declaration was approved, and the day that the United States of America became its own country. They often celebrate with parades, fireworks, and songs.
The Declaration of Independence also talks about the simple ideas that the people who started the United States believed in. It says that every person in this U.S has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It also says that the government has to listen to its own people. These things were what made America a free independent country.
The initial text says that a declaration of independence must be well-reasoned:
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
The preamble of the declaration is the best-known part.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
We think these truths are obvious:
The Declaration of Independence can be viewed at the National Archives Museum near the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Jordan
Jordan is a country in the Middle East. Its official name is "The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan".
Jordan has borders with the countries of Saudi Arabia, Israel, Syria and Iraq. It also has a very short coast on the Red Sea, and a longer coast along the Dead Sea.
Most of Jordan is desert and the country is very dry. The northwest of Jordan is its highest part, and its lowest part is the Dead Sea. This is the lowest place on the Earth that is open to the sky.
The capital of Jordan is Amman.
Jordan is divided into 12 Governorates. The governorates are divided into 54 departments or districts named Nahias.
People from Jordan are called Jordanians. Most of them speak Arabic as their first language. The population of Jordan is about 10.5 million people.
Jordan is a constitutional monarchy and has a king. The King is the head of state, but he does not have all the power in the country. King Abdullah II has been the King of Jordan since February 1999. Most Jordanians are Muslim. There are around 200-400,000 Christians.
Jordan's national meal is mansaf. The most popular sport is football.
Unlike some of the countries around it, Jordan has little petroleum and natural gas. Some of its economy comes from mining instead. Jordan is the largest producer of the mineral phosphate in the world.
Jordan is a Member of the OECD since 2019 as the first Arab Country to do so.
The currency of Jordan is called the Jordanian dinar.
Prejudice