独立宣言价值研究论文摘要

【独立宣言受美国共和主义精神所影响，即以之为自由权之基本架构。另外，宣言中也反映启蒙时期的哲学，包含自然律、自决、与自然神论等观点。宣言中的理想，甚至其中一些片断，直接引用英国哲学家约翰·洛克之著作，尤其是其以“文明政府之真实起源、范畴、与终结之各项专论 本杰明.富兰克林”为题之政府二论（Second Treatise on Government）。于其论文中，洛克拥护由受统治者成立政府之信念。洛克写道，人类拥有天赋人权。其他独立宣言所受到的影响包括阿尔杰农·西德尼之演讲与著作天助自助者（Wawrzyniec Grzymala Goslicki），以及托马斯·潘恩。据杰斐逊之理念，独立之目的为“非为寻找前此未有之新原则，或新论述……而是置事物之常理于世人眼前，以简洁之语句搏取赞同，并使之以我等受迫之立场自我判断。”】 。

正确的唯物的辩证的看待

The The Declaration of Independence, completed and signed in July of 1776, marked the official separation between the 13 colonies and Great Britain. An armed struggle between the colonies and Britain had begun just over a year before, with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The formal declaration of independence established the new American revolutionary government and officially declared war against Great Britain. The primary purpose of the declaration was to assist the Second Continental Congress in obtaining aid from foreign countries. The document also clearly outlines the history of abuses the colonists had suffered under British rule since the end of the French and Indian war in 1763. <--DisplayAds("Middle,Middle2,Right!Middle");//--><-- --><-- -->Prior to the French and Indian war, the colonists had enjoyed over a hundred years of "salutary neglect." In other words, although laws were in place to maintain the subordinate status of the colonies to Great Britain, they were usually not enforced. After the French and Indian war, which increased Britain's share of North America, King George III and Parliament sought to establish firm control over the land newly obtained from France, and to help pay war debts by taxing the colonies. They did this by enacting a number of acts that either taxed the colonists or placed stricter controls on trade. These laws included the Sugar Act (1764), the Stamp Tax (1765), the Townshend Acts (1767), and the Tea Act (1773). Additionally, Parliament enacted the Quartering Act (1765) which forced colonists to help pay for the British military stationed in the colonies. Colonists initially protested these acts through peaceful means such as petition, boycott, and committees. They argued that since they had no representation in Parliament, they could not be rightfully taxed by Parliament. As their petitions were repeatedly ignored, and taxes continually added, colonists turned to increasingly more destructive actions, like the Boston Tea Party of 1774. In response to this rebellious action by the Massachusetts Colony, the King and Parliament exacted punishment through legislation referred to by colonists as the "Intolerable Acts." The Intolerable Acts sparked the colonies to call an inter-colonial congress for the purpose of discussing a unified response to the King and Parliament. This First Continental Congress, as it was called, met in September 1774 in Philadelphia. All 13 colonies were present except for Georgia. The Congress drafted a declaration claiming that the Intolerable Acts were unconstitutional, that the colonists retained the same civil rights as English citizens, and that they would boycott all English goods until reconciliation was reached. The negotiations never happened. Instead, tensions continued to mount between the colonists and Great Britain. The First Continental Congress agreed to meet again in May 1775 if no reconciliation had been reached. At this Second Continental Congress, all thirteen colonies were present. It took 14 months, military mobilization, persuasive pamphleteering, and the further abuse of colonial rights before all 13 colonies agreed to pursue independence. At issue were political as well as practical concerns. Upper class colonists tended to fear the lower class gaining too much power through revolution. Middle class colonists could not afford to see their businesses continue to decline due to trade restrictions. All colonists resented that the King and Parliament denied them representative government and their civil rights. However, they also doubted whether they would be strong enough to resist the British military. Early in 1776, Thomas Paine published his pamphlet Common Sense, which won over many colonists to the cause of independence. Meanwhile, the congress had sent the King an Olive-Branch Petition as a last effort towards reconciliation. Not only did he refuse to respond to the colonists' plea, he sent an additional 20,000 troops to North America and hired mercenaries from Germany to bolster his military force. An all-out war seemed imminent and even moderate delegates realized that in order to obtain much-needed military support from France, they would have to declare themselves wholly independent from Great Britain. Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed a resolution for independence in June of 1776. The Congress appointed a committee to draft a declaration of independence that consisted of John Adams (MA), Benjamin Franklin (PA), Thomas Jefferson (VA), Robert Livingston (NY) and Roger Sherman (CT). <--DisplayAds("Middle,Middle2,Right!Middle2");//--><-- --><-- -->The job of drafting the Declaration of Independence fell to the youngest member of the committee, Thomas Jefferson. In composing the declaration, Jefferson drew on ideas from the Enlightenment, especially those of John Locke. Not only did the declaration represent a milestone in the history of the United States, it also turned the political philosophies of 18th century Europe into real political practice.

此宣言为美国最重要的立国文书之一。

2.   若干史家相信独立宣言曾用以作为宣传工具，即美国人尝试为其叛英行为立说，以说服不愿起事之殖民地加入，并对可能施以援手之外国建立正当性。独立宣言亦曾用以结合大陆议会之成员。大多数的签署人都明白，自已签的是与革命事业成功与否息息相关的生死状，而本宣言缩短革命与成功之距离。

1、《独立宣言》的发表极大地动员了一切革命力量，大大鼓舞了北美人民的斗志，成为北美人民争取独立的旗帜，对争取独立战争的胜利起了巨大推动作用。2、《独立宣言》也是一篇著名的资产阶级革命文献，它提倡资产阶级的自由、平等和主权在民思想，否定了封建等级制和专制统治，否定英国对殖民地统治的合法性，宣言凝集了北美先进分子的思想，它所体现的革命精神，对独立战争进程具有巨大的鼓舞和指导作用。3、《独立宣言》正式向全世界宣告美国脱离英国而独立。这标志着北美独立战争进入一个新的阶段，即把反抗英国殖民统治的武装斗争同争取民族独立的伟大的正义事业联系起来。