Pennsylvania Farmer -- Declaration of Independence
What objections did the "Pennsylvania Farmer" have regarding the content of the Declaration of Independence? What did the Pennsylvania Farmer agree with, philosophically, and fundamentally, regarding the wording of the Declaration of Independence? These questions will be addressed in this paper.
The Declaration of Independence and the Pennsylvania Farmer
Essayist Charles Kromkowski asserts that prior to 1774, few colonists had "openly advocated" independence (Kromkowski, 2010, p. 45). However, leading up to the 1770s there were influential propaganda-themed documents published and distributed throughout the colonies that vigorously opposed the fact that the British Parliament acted arbitrarily in taxing the colonies without the consent of the colonists and that the British Parliament unilaterally suspended the New York legislature, among other egregious acts. One of the most influential writers of propaganda in the late 1760s was the "Pennsylvania Farmer," whose name was John Dickinson and who actually was not a farmer at all but rather he was a...
But for the purposed of this paper, the "Pennsylvania Farmer" could have been any intelligent, literate, hard-working colonist that wanted fairness for his emerging county.
What argument for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution -- based on the philosophical ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence (DOI) -- would the Pennsylvania Farmer make? He would certainly agree with the passages in the DOI that relates to the England's degrees: a) "…Imposing Taxes on us without our consent"; b) and for the act of dissolving "Representative Houses repeatedly… [refusing] to cause others to be elected…" (DOI). In the Pennsylvania Farmer's first letter, he insists that the British Parliament "had no right" to suspend the legislative powers of New York (Jensen, 2003, p. 131). "It seems therefore to me as much a violation of the liberty of the people of [New York], and consequently of all these colonies, as if the parliament had sent a number of regiments to be quartered upon them till they should…
Declaration of Independence It is obvious, if we look at things today, that Jefferson's revolutionary vision has been achieved in America. Even more so, it has been achieved to a degree that we assume has never been reached elsewhere. On the other hand, we must admit that any such questions can also be answered "yes, to a certain degree" and we must acknowledge that this is the case for America as
Declaration of Independence The Theory of Government presented in the Declaration The author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson was greatly influenced by the political thoughts of the 17th century English philosopher John Locke and other thinkers of the European Age of Enlightenment. The theory of government presented in the Declaration is largely based on the political philosophy of Natural Rights that maintains that each individual enters a society with certain
Declaration of independence it was determined that thirteen of the countries were Free states and independent of England. Initially even under the government of England there were hardly any serious problems for the thirteen colonies. Even though it was England that hired the government holders and other main officials, colonies had very limited representation (U.S. History.Org, 1995) However England went heavily into debt. This was mainly due to the war with the
In fact, many of the ideas are taken directly from John Locke's theories, specifically the statement of the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Specifically, the declaration that "it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume...the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature...entitle them..." is a statement of both republicanism and Natural
" When that Amendment was put in, the country was very young and it was wild, with Native Americans often hostile (with good reason), with wild animals posing a threat, and with various wars (the French & Indian War; the Civil War) taking place. People needed to feel like they were protected, and the new government didn't want to take their personal means of physical protection away from them. The
Independence and Constitution Declaration of Independence to the Constitution When the American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain the Declaration of Independence stated a number of specific violations of the colonist's rights that British King George III that committed against the colonies. These were stated as the reason behind the American's right to rebel and replace the British government with one of their own. Several years later, after the Americans had