1. The Declaration of Independence while a revolutionary document was not the first time colonist’s rebelled against authority as a unified people under a shared common identity. During the Great Awakening of the 1730s Americans rebelled against church authority creating new churches.

The Awakening's biggest significance was the way it prepared America for its War of Independence. In the decades before the war, revivalism taught people that they could be bold when confronting religious authority, and that when churches weren't living up to the believers' expectations, the people could break off and form new ones.

Through the Awakening, the Colonists realized that religious power resided in their own hands, rather than in the hands of the Church of England, or any other religious authority. After a generation or two passed with this kind of mindset, the Colonists came to realize that political power did not reside in the hands of the English monarch, but in their own will for self-governance.

Students need to take a firm stand on the question either the DOI marked a turning point and there was no turning back or it was not. And this needs to be supported by specific pieces of relevant history listed in the rubric.

2. The Declaration of Independence was not a declaration of war, it announced America’s independence to the rest of the world and listed of 27 grievances against the King. The Revolutionary War had already started at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. The Declaration of Independence was approved over a year later.

Through events such as the Boston Tea Party colonists displayed their discontent with the British crown. Other events that could be used include Stamp Act Protests and Congress, Boston Massacre, Committee of Correspondence, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, Olive Branch Petition, and the outbreak of hostilities at Lexington and Concord. See below for details on each of these as well as some others that could be used in the essay:

Stamp Act Protests • Colonists burn the stamp paper and refuse to purchase it • Samuel Adams helps form a secret resistance group of merchants, shopkeepers, and others - the Sons of Liberty harass stamp agents • Colonial assemblies pass resolutions arguing that only colonial governments could tax colonists – Virginia's House of Burgesses approved four resolutions by Patrick Henry – insisted that colonists enjoyed the same “liberties, privileges, franchises, and immunities” as residents of England and that the right to consent to taxation was a cornerstone of “British freedom.” • Educated citizens argued that it was “taxation without representation”

Stamp Act Congress (October 1765) • 27 delegates from nine colonies meet in New York adopted the resolutions passed by Virginia • Merchants agreed to boycott British goods until the Stamp Act was repealed • Stamp Act repealed (1766)

Committees of Correspondence • Assembled first in the colonies of Massachusetts and Virginia • Purpose to communicate with other leaders about threats to colonial liberty • Helped to fan the flames of rebellion

Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770) • Poorly paid British soldiers competed with colonists for jobs • A mob gathered outside of the customs house and began to throw snowballs and insult the British soldiers • British soldiers fired shots, Crispus Attucks an African American was killed along with four others

The Boston Tea Party (December 16, 1773) • The Sons of Liberty dressed as Native Americans boarded British tea ships in Boston Harbor and threw the tea overboard

Coercive or Intolerable Acts (1774) • Punishment for the Boston Tea Party • Closed Boston Harbor • Quartering Act – Forced to house soldiers in private homes • Placed Boston under marshal law

Suffolk Resolves (September 9, 1774) • Leaders of Suffolk County, Massachusetts – Refuse obedience to new laws – Withhold taxes – Prepare for War

1st Continental Congress (September 5, 1774) • 56 delegates meet in Philadelphia • Response to Intolerable Acts – Drew up a declaration of rights – Supported the right for those in Massachusetts to protest and endorsed the Suffolk Resolves – Halt trade with Great Britain and the West Indies except rice – If British troops used force colonists should fight back – Authorized local Committees of Safety

The Outbreak of War (April 19, 1775) • British to seize arms in Concord • Paul Revere & William Dawes make their midnight ride to warn the Minutemen of approaching British soldiers. • Skimishes at Lexington & Concord • 49 Americans and 73 British died

Olive Branch Petition (July 1775) - Last ditch effort to try to avoid all out war and return to harmony with Britain - Reaffirmed loyalty to the crown - King George III vehemently rejected the proposal

Common Sense by Thomas Paine (January 1776) • Originally published anonymously • It was time for the colonists to declare their independence • Independence would allow Americans to trade freely • Independence would win America foreign assistance from British enemies • Independence would allow colonists to create a better society free from tyranny • Paine not only called for independence, but for a new kind of political society: a democratic republic. • Power should be derived from popular consent.

3. “All men are created equal” was not the backbone and start of America despite the Revolutionary war Americans were not equal; i.e., Blacks and Women had fewer rights and often were inferior to white male property owners.