Page 25 - Heavenly Signs III by Mel Gable

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believed that these acts, such as the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767 were a legitimate means
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of having the colonies pay their fair share of the costs to keep the colonies in the British Empire.
“Believe me, dear Sir: there is not in the British Empire a man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain than I do. But,
by the God that made me, I will cease to exist before I yield to a connection on such terms as the British Parliament propose and in
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this, I think I speak the sentiments of America.”
—Thomas Jefferson, November 29, 1775

Declaration:

“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.”

This has been called "one of
the best-known sentences in
the English language",
containing "the most potent
and consequential words in
American history." The
passage came to represent a
moral standard to which the
United States should strive.
The Declaration justified the
independence of the United
States by listing colonial
grievances against King
George III, and by asserting
certain natural and legal
rights, including a right of
revolution.

Declaration of Independence (1776)

Many colonists, however, had developed a different conception of the British Empire. It was because the
colonies were not directly represented in Parliament, colonists argued that Parliament had no right to levy taxes
upon them. This tax dispute was part of a larger divergence between British and American interpretations of the
British Constitution and the extent of Parliament's authority in the colonies.

After the Townshend Acts, some essayists even began to question whether Parliament had any legitimate
jurisdiction in the colonies at all. Anticipating the arrangement of the British Commonwealth, by 1774 American

21 Christie and Labaree, Empire or Independence.
22 Hazelton, Declaration History, 19.