Refer to Lesson 2-2 in your study guide and pages 60-64 in your textbook. Read the excerpt
from the Declaration of Independence and answer questions 26-29.
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. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their
just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form,
as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will
dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes;
and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils
are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a
design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such
Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
26. How has our understanding of the first sentence of the Declaration of Independence changed
over time?
27. Although the Declaration clearly states that the governed have the right to abolish a
destructive government, there is a caveat. What is that caveat, and why do you think it was
included?
B.
What can you infer about the fact that in the final version of the Declaration, the word
despotism is boldfaced?
What does Jefferson mean when he writes "and to provide new Guards for their future
security"?