Heritage of the Founding Fathers
Heritage of the Founding Fathers
Why They Did It
Why they risked their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor
Why did the Founding Fathers break away from England? What, in their opinion, justified them going to war against their mother country? Why did they risk their lives, fortunes, and sacred honors to start a new nation? Why did they feel it necessary to be independent. The Declaration of Independence gives a list of reasons why the Founding Fathers broke away from Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence reads, in part:“The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.•He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.•He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.•He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. •He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. •He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.•He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.•He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.•He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.•He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.•He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.•He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.•He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.•He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:•For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:•For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:•For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:•For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: •For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:•For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences•For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:•For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:•For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.•He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.•He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. •He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.•He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. •He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.”And that’s why America’s Founding Fathers broke away from the most powerful nation on earth to form a new nation. That, in their eyes, made all the toil and work worth it. We have been blessed by God to have many freedoms in this country. Let’s not lose them.