Reflection: Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence was written in 1776 to claim America as an independent country from Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and two others wrote this eloquent document. The Declaration of Independence was monumental in the separation with Britain and is still a very prominent piece of literature today. Although good for its time, we now know that the declaration had several flaws including faulty logic, and some propaganda techniques. Obviously, these false ideas are not very prominent, because of how useful this document was in 1776. The good, moral parts of the Declaration of Independence overshadow the faulty parts.

One of the first uses of faulty logic that popped out to me was within the fist few sentences. The statement of "That all men are created equal" is not a true statement (Jefferson 122). This is not true today and it definitely was not true at the time this was written in the 1770's. In colonial times, the only people that were equal were white males, middle-aged or older. Not only could women of any color, Indian men, or black men not vote or participate in the government, young white men had a very hard time getting involved in the government. Most of the delegates to the Second Continental Congress, where the Declaration of Independence was written and signed, were middle aged, the youngest being twenty-six. Jefferson's statement was incorrect, although at the time, it brought about feelings of hope and pride in equality, as only a select group of people were actually  "created equal" (Jefferson 122).

Later on in the "Declaration of Independence", Jefferson called the King of Great Britain a tyrant by indirectly referring to him by saying that cutting down on elected officials' representation was only "formidable to tyrants only" (Jefferson 123). Calling King George a tyrant is name calling propaganda. Normally that would make the reader turn away, because writing with name calling and finger pointing, it not something that people want to read. In this case, the audience of this document are Americans. Many people in America disliked the English, and calling the King a tyrant is not going to make them like England. The loyalists who already love England are not reading the "Declaration of Independence" to realize their love for America or King George. The target group that the Declaration was written for would have only become more for the revolution with the "tyranny" name calling (Jefferson 123).

 Another negative name calling propaganda that was used was "the merciless Indian savages, whose known rules of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions" (Jefferson 124). The Indians were not all "merciless" and "savage". Maybe one Indian acted savagely to white stranger and the impression stuck. I know that their were many Indians who aided the white settlers such as Squanto and Sacajawea. The Indians also did not fight in wars against white colonists or discriminate against "ages, sexes, or conditions" (Jefferson 124). While the colonists might have agreed with Jefferson, the line from the "Declaration of Independence" dates the document.

Although the Declaration of Independence, was a very important piece of writing at the time it was written in 1776, we can now realize that it used faulty logic and propaganda techniques. When this was written most people agreed with the ideas that were written, and that is why the false statements of the document were not prominent until later in history.

Jefferson, Thomas. "Declaration of Independence." Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 97-99. Print.

"Recognizing Propaganda Techniques and Errors of Faulty Logic." Cuesta College. 06 Mar. 2011. Web. 27 Sept. 2011