The Declaration of Independence is a document that is the nation's most cherished symbol of Liberty. It was drafted by Thomas Jefferson in June 11 and June 28, 1776. A committee was assembled to draft the formal declaration. The Declaration was a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." This sentence has been called "One of the best-known sentences in the English language" and "the most potent and consequential words in American History". This view was notably promoted by Abraham Lincoln, who considered the Declaration  to be the foundation of his political philosophy.   

     Not all the men who helped draw up or voted for the Declaration signed it nor were all the signers present at its adoption. All the signatures except six were attached on August 2, 1776. The first person who signed the Declaration of Independence was John Hancock. He was the president of the Continental Congress. The Declaration of Independence is now kept in the National Archives at Washington D.C.

 The purpose of the Declaration of independence was to explain the Americans point of view. The Americans believed that men were created equal by God, this means God gives mankind certain rights when they are born. The rights they are given are life, liberty and a pursuit of happiness. Sometimes there are people and events in life that try to take away these rights. The government create these rules to "secure" these rights so no one can take away their rights.

                      figure 1: showing the declaration of Independence being signed 

                     Image Source Page: http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/rotunda/declaration_independence.cfm

                     posted By: Peter Saad

      This means that the people who are ruled over have a right to choose how the government functions. If the government tries to do things without people's consent than that would be unjust. The Declaration of Independence also says that "any form of government becomes of ends." It is the rights of the people to abolish it and to institute a new government. Many people know that Americans were unhappy with various taxes that the British government was placing upon them. There are many, many other things that the Declaration of Independence points out aswell. The king appointed governors in each colony to suspend certain laws passed by the colonial legislatures, if king George the third didn't like them.

    BY: Peter Saad

                                                                            figure 2: show the Declaration of Independence after it being signed

                                                                           Image Source Page: http://theconstitutionoftheunitedstates.blogspot.com/

                                                                           posted  By: Peter Saad

 Signers of the Declaration of Independence:

Delaware:

• George Read: A politician and an American lawyer
• Thomas McKean: American lawyer and politician
  
• Caesar Rodney:  American lawyer and politician

Pennsylvania: 

• George Clymer: Politician
  
• Robert Morris: Merchant
• Benjamin Rush: Physician, writer, educator and humanitarian
  
• James Smith: Delegate to the Continental Congress
  
• George Taylor: Protestant clergyman
  
• Benjamin Franklin: Author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman and diplomat. 
• John Morton: Farmer, surveyor and jurist
  
• George Ross: Prosecutor, colonel for the Continental Army, vice president for Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention and judge of the admiralty court of Pennsylvania
  
• James Wilson: Theorist, one of the six original justices pointed by George Washington
  

Massachusetts: 

• John Adams: Lawyer, diplomat, and political theorist
  
• John Hancock: Merchant, statesman, president of the second Continental Congress and the first and third governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  
• Elbridge Gerry: American statesman and diplomat
  
• Samuel Adams: American statesman and political philosopher
  
• Robert Treat Paine: American lawyer
  

New Hampshire:

• Josiah Bartlett: American physician, statesman and delegate to the Continental Congress
  
• Matthew Thornton: Delegate to the Continental Congress
  
• William Whipple: Sailor, member of Committee of Safety
  

Rhode Island:

• Stephen Hopkins: Governor and delegate to the Continental Congress for Albany
  
• William Ellery: Delegate to the Continental Congress representing Rhode Island
  

New York: 

• Lewis Morris: American landowner and developer
  
• Francis Lewis: Member of the Committee of Sixty, delegate to the Continental Congress
  
• Philip Livingston: Merchant and Statesman
  
• William Floyd: Delegate to the Continental Congress

Georgia:

• Button Gwinnett: 2nd governor of Georgia
  
• George Walton: Senator
  
• Lyman Hall: Physician, clergyman and statesman
  

Virginia:

• Richard Henry Lee: Senator and 12th president of the Continental Congress
  
• Carter Braxton: A planter and a representative of Virginia
  
• Thomas Jefferson: Author of the Declaration of Independence, third president, and founder of the
  
• Thomas Nelson Jr: Planter, soldier and statesman
  
• Francis Lightfoot Lee: Member of the House of Burgesses and a protester of the Stamp Act
  
• Benjamin Harrison: Planter and revolutionary leader
• George Wythe: A lawyer, judge and a prominent law professor
  

North Carolina:

• William Hooper: Lawyer, politician and member of Continental Congress
  
• Joseph Hewes: Merchant
  
• John Penn: Delegate to the Continental Congress
  

South Carolina:  

• Edward Rutledge: Governor,
  
• Arthur Middleton: Soldier
  
• Thomas Lynch Jr: Signed instead of his father due to illness
  
• Thomas Heyward Jr: Judge and member of Continental Congress
  

New Jersey: 

• Abraham Clark: Politician and war figure
  
• Francis Hopkinson: Author, federal judge and played a key role in the first American flag
  
• John Witherspoon: College president and clergyman
  
• John Hart: Delegate from New Jersey 
  
• Richard Stockton: Senator, member of the House of Representatives
  

Connecticut:

• Samuel Huntington: Jurist, statesman and patriot
  
• Roger Sherman: Lawyer, politician and mayor
  
• Oliver Wolcott: Sheriff and general
  
• William Williams: Merchant and delegate for the Continental Congress 
  

Maryland: 

• Charles Carroll: Planter, senator and a delagate
  
• Thomas Stone: Planter and president of Congress
  
• Samuel Chase: Judge
  
• William Paca: Governor and representative
  

By: Muhammad Mirza

Bibliography:

1. "Declaration of Independence." National Archives and Records Administration. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. <http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration.html>
2. "The Declaration of Independence." Ushistory.org. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document/
3. "Declaration of independence". Americans point of view. 27 Oct. 2011, treaty of pairs. 
4. "The Declaration of Independence." Govement functions. 27 Oct. 2011, http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/purpose-of-declaration-of-independence.html
5. "Signers of the Declaration of Independence" Ushistory.org. Web. 11 Nov. 2011, http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/index.htm
6. "Signers of the Declaration of Independence" Usconstitution.net. Web.11 Nov. 2011, http://www.usconstitution.net/declarsigndata.html