The first thing that may come to mind at the mention of the Declaration of Independence is men dressed in wigs writing in curly font on old paper. While that is true, it is more than that. The Declaration is actually a breakup letter. To be more precise, it is a formal, public and dangerous breakup letter to Britain and King George III.

The insurgence was brewing before they started the official American Revolutionary War on July 4, 1776. The end of the French and Indian War in 1763 placed Britain in a financially precarious position. To alleviate the debt, the monarchy forced the colonies to pay taxes via the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767. The colonies did not have a voice in Parliament, and the widespread discontent grew legs and created a protest movement that began to galvanize into a revolutionary movement, led by the phrase \"no taxation without representation\". The Boston Massacre of 1770 and the Boston Tea Party of 1773 were events that turned opposition into resistance. By April of 1775, the first military engagements of the war started at Lexington and Concord. The colonies were at war, but a declaration of independence was still outstanding.

This changed in June of 1776. A representative by the name of Richard Henry Lee from the state of Virginia introduced a motion in the Second Continental Congress. The motion was that the American colonies be declared free and independent states. Congress tasked a five-person committee to write a justification on this resolution. The committee was comprised of Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, Livingston and Sherman. Jefferson was selected to pen the first draft from earlier stated committee, thanks to his reputation for lucid and compelling writing, and being 33 at the time. He ended up being in Philadelphia for about 17 days.

Jefferson referenced the philosophies of other famous thinkers of his time, including the principles of the Enlightenment. For example, he used the work of John Locke. Locke believed that the people had the right to defend their lives, freedom, and property. He also believed that people had a right to govern as a democracy. Jefferson used that to create his line in the Declaration, “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."

He backed his philosophy with a listing of the reasons for the American Revolution; King George III had closed the colonies, had no representative legislature, had armies, and had Trade Regulation to protect imposition of taxes and denied jury by trial. Jefferson also opposed the transatlantic slave trade, but Georgia and South Carolina delegates deleted it.

Franklin and Adams responded to Jefferson first drafts with suggestions. He stated, “I writhed a little,” when the edits removed a quarter of his work. Congress also made substantial changes and the document continued to be edited. Since the greatest changes for Jefferson's draft came in the early days of Congress, it was separated by a two-day debate. It was ultimately approved on July 4, 1776, but the delegates did not complete their signatures for a month. One of the last signers was John Hancock. Because of his desire for King George to read his name without glasses, he is also famous for that.

With the Declaration, the colonies stated legally that they were “free and independent” and had the ability to declare war, make treaties, and trade. They separated themselves from the British Empire. It gave the soldiers a reason to fight that was more significant that just losing money to taxes. The Declaration was printed on broadside and read in public. People had a clear understanding of the consequences. Signing the Declaration was considered treason and they understood that they would be hanged if they were captured and the revolution failed.

The Declaration failed in many ways. The promise of equality clearly did not mean enslaved people, women and indigenous people. It also summered up the argument for more civil rights. Even in 1852, Frederick Douglass asked what the 4th of July meant to a slave. The promise of equality also meant that people had a standard to push for. Because of the Declaration, Jefferson's words were used a lot. Even in 1963, Martin Luther King and in 1863, Abraham Lincoln used them.

The original copy of the Declaration of Independence still exists and is in Washington's National Archive. It is very faded and the original writing is barely readable but the message is still clear. It also indicates that people feel as though they do not have a say in how they are governed, and that a group of people has said they will no longer accept a government as a framework to express to the people what they feel. They put their lives on the line for the cause when they printed their names and signed the ‘death’ warrant.