DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

The declaration of Independence was the public act by which the Second Continental Congress, on July 4th, 1776, declared the Colonies to be free and independent of England. I agree with Bernard Bailyn because he agrees with the founding fathers, and they believed that they had the right to be free and have liberty as well as the pursuit of happiness and becoming a mighty country. So, I believe that the declaration of independence was written following ideological principles.

 According to the thoughts of Bernard Bailyn, by severing their rights the colonists thought that the King of England was conspiring against them. Moreover, Bailyn abets principles such as “live, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” following enlightened principles in the Declaration of Independence. The leaders of the colonists truly believed that America was the nation that was appointed by God to defend this principles and rights, because according to what John Locke said "all men are created equal, with certain rights that included the right to defend them against a tiranic government".

Although Howard Zinn argues that the Declaration of Independence was written by an upper-class that wanted to achieve more priviledges, we can claim that no other social group was prepared to lead the revolution but the wealthy and educated bourgeoisie of the colonies that have access to the enlightened ideas that came from Europe.

To sum up, we can state that America was chosen by God to spread liberty and freedom and become a mighty country. By the same token, analyzing Zinn´s ideas, we can argue with him about the way he explained that the upper classes wanted to favor themselves from the ones in the Third Estate.