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Mr. Sedivy's
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Highlands Ranch High School - Mr. Sedivy
Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 2, 1776 and it was adopted on July 4, 1776. Jefferson "borrowed" ideas from Locke about natural rights and overthrowing a mean government. American support was split: 1/3 Loyalists, 1/3 Patriots, and 1/3 didn't care.
The Declaration of Independence begins with these word: "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 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 declaration severed political ties between Britain and America and provided an enduring statement of human rights: "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." Not everyone greeted the Declaration of Independence with enthusiasm. Many people called "Loyalists," or "Tories," still opposed independene and remained loyal to the crown. Loyalists made a valuable contribution to the British side as soldiers, writers, sailors, and spies. On many battlefields Americans not only fought British soldiers, but they fought other Americans, too - giving the struggle the character of a civil war.
The British blamed rebel extremists. George Washington thought "some good honest fellow" might be responsibe. Redcoats chased Washington's army as far as Pennsylvania. "Our little handful is daily decreasing," Washington wrote. In just three months the Brits had captured more than 4000 of his men.
From the saddle, General Washington directs his men across the Delaware River on a daring mission to capture Trenton, New Jersey. The choice of Christmas as the date of attack wasn't sentimental - many of Washington's soldiers were entitled to go home on January 1. He needed to strike before the river froze completely, leaving Pennsylvania wide open to British invasion. Dangerous icy waters and blinding snow hindered the nigtthime crossing. "Desperate situations
require desperate remedies," Colonial America American Colonies: Problems and War in Colonial America The Stamp Act and Sugar Act, The American Revolution The Declaration of Independence The Turning Point of the American Revolution End of the American Revolution - Yorktown / Treaty of Paris Benedict Arnold and His Pal, John André Articles of Confederation, Constitution, the Bill of Rights Historical Periods of | Prehistory
| Mesopotamia & Phoenicians |
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Highlands Ranch High School 9375 South Cresthill Lane Highlands Ranch, Colorado 80126 303-471-7000
Mr. Sedivy's History Classes
| Colorado History | American
Government | Modern European History | Advanced
Placement European History | Rise of England
| World History |
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