Events Leading To The Declaration Of Independence History Essay

There were many events that lead to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The reason for the declaration was to give the American Colonies freedom. The Americans where under the ruling of the British, and the declaration was to request independence.

The first main event was the Seven Years War. This took place from 1754-1763, this was between the British and the French1. Once the war had ended, the British where in debt, Because of the British being in debt, the British started demanding more from the American Colonies1. To do this the British started passing acts. As well as making rules to gain more power. The first thing was the Royal Proclamation. This took place in 19632, and it prohibited settlements past the Appalachian Mountains. The second event was the Sugar Act. This raised the price of foreign sugar. This act was passed in 1764. Following the Sugar Act was the Currency Act. This banned American currency; this was because the British believed it was lowering the value of their money1. At this point the Americans were starting to get very annoyed by all of these acts. But there were still two more acts that pushed the Americans over the edge.

In 1765 the Stamp Act was put in to place1, this made it so that the Americans had to buy stamps on many items. At this point the Americans began protesting and began not buying these products. The final act was the Tea Act, which was put in to place in 17731. This was a tax that raised the prices of tea. This was when the American Colonies had enough of the acts. They protested by dumping all of the tea in to the Boston Harbor, known as the Boston Tea Party.

1774 was when the first Continental Congress took place2. Where twelve, of the thirteen colonies met to call a boycott, on British goods. On June 11th five men where appointed by the Continental Congress to draft the Declaration of Independence, This consisted of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman. The Declaration was approved on July 4th 17762.

The Declaration of Independence is what gave the American Colonies freedom from British ruling. There were many events leading that where the reason for its development. It is still something that is used today, and it makes everybody remember how and when America was given freedom.

Benjamin Franklin:

 

Benjamin Franklin lived from 1706-17905. He was one of the founding fathers of America; he was a scientist, printer, statesman, and a public leader. He helped with the development of Philadelphia. He is still recognized today for his outstanding contributions towards society. And he is considered one of the most educated people of all time.

Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706. He was born in Boston Massachusetts. This is where he attended school, Benjamin was not the greatest in writing, and was very bad at arithmetic. Despite this, he excelled in reading. At the age of ten, after two years of schooling, his father took him out of school because he couldn’t afford the tuition. This bump in the road did no discourage Benjamin. He read everything he could get his hands on, and even taught himself algebra, geometry, navigation, grammar, natural and physical sciences5. At the age of twelve, Benjamin became an apprentice to his older brother who was a printer. Benjamin became very good at printing and even wrote several newspaper articles. He was a printer until he ran away and started a new life in Philadelphia.

At the age of seventeen, Benjamin ran away to Philadelphia4. For the next seven years he worked in various print shops around Philadelphia. At the age of twenty four, he became sole owner of a print shop; this is when he began publishing “The Pennsylvania Gazette” which became the most successful newspapers in the American Colonies. In 1753 he became the Deputy Postmaster5. For many years he helped develop not only his own city but other as well. He set up the first city delivery system; he opened post offices at Quebec, Montreal, and Trios Reveries. He also established a postal service between New York, and Montreal5. Benjamin’s contributions didn’t stop with postal services; he also helped reform the police and fire station. He also helped found the University Of Pennsylvania. He was also an inventor; he created the first bifocal lenses, lightning rod, and many more. Benjamin Franklin is remembered for his great science endeavors. His most famous experiment took place in 1772, when he flew a kite in a thunderstorm, to learn whether or not lightning is electricity5. He was a courageous man, and his generosity to the city continued until he was very old.

February 13, 1766 Benjamin Franklin appeared in the House of Commons to answer 174 questions about taxation without representation, the stamp act was repealed a short time later and he received much of the credit5. Benjamin was also a signatory of the Declaration of Independence, as well as the Treaty of Paris. In 1785, he served as the president of the executive council of Pennsylvania. His last public act was when he signed an appeal to stop slavery5.

On April 17th, 1790 Benjamin Franklin died at the age of eighty four4. He will always be remembered for his leader ship and dedication to improving the quality of life for everybody. His vast knowledge and perseverance was defiantly a quality that he did not lack. Benjamin Franklin was not a quitter he pushed through the tough times and ended up having a big effect on the world. He is a role model who is still remembered, and always will be.

Values and Limitations:

For this project I found that the book sources where a lot better than the web based sources. I thought this because the book sources seemed a lot more reliable as well; they also had quite a bit of information.

One of the books that I used, was the “World Encyclopedia” I used it for the biography of Benjamin Franklin. The best thing about this source was the amount of information it had. I thought that it went quite in depth about his life. Another one of its values was that it was reliable. This goes for most books, they seem to be a lot more reliable than websites. For the most part this book source was very helpful, and had a lot of information.

There weren’t too many limitations to this book source. The only main problem was that there was so much information, that it was hard to decipher what was important, and what were just random facts. Another problem with this is information was how in depth it went. Since there was so much detail it was hard not to copy exactly what the book said. The amount of information also made it difficult to use other sources. Once I had used this book I found it difficult to use other sources, because I had so much information from the book.

In conclusion the values were also the limitations, but overall this book source was probably the most helpful source out of all of them. This just showed me that book sources are a lot more helpful, especially when doing a research project like this.