- use of personal pronouns
- most common rhetorical devices / collocations
- semantic fields (most recurrent words and phrases associated to a specific ideological cluster)
- description of British Government vs. American subjects
- relevance of the corrections and deletions to Jefferson's draft
20 comments:
The use of personal pronouns in "The Declaration of Representatives" has a strategic purpose: it intends to emphasize the many differences between the American colonies (and its government) and the British monarchy, and to prophecize their factual, political separation. It is only natural that, in a declaration of independence, the differences between the opressor and the opressed be stressed vehemently.
The representatives often resort to capitalization to lay emphasis on the offenses they have suffered ("REPEATED injuries" - page 26; "BY DECLARING US OUT OF HIS PROTECTION, AND WAGING WAR AGAINST US" - page 26) and their right to put an end to them through political independence ("WE MUST THEREFORE [...] acquiesce in the necessity whch denounces our [eternal] separation AND HOLD THEM AS WE HOLD THE REST OF MANKIND, ENEMIES IN WAR, IN PEACE FRIENDS!" - page 27). Anaphor is also used, especially when enumerating the crimes of king George III in order to convey the heinousness of his actions.
Naturally, the semantic field of republicanism is present in this declaration. There are mentions of the equality of men and their inalienable rights ("[...] all men are created equal;that they are endowed by their Creator with CERTAIN [inherent and] inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;" - page 26), as well as references to concepts related to Locke's social contract, such as the idea of governmental power deriving from "[...] the consent of the governed;" (page 26), and the idea of civil desobedience - "that whenever any for of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, [...]" (page 26). The "[....] right of representation in legislature, [....]" (page 26) is also mentioned, as well as a "General Congress" (page 27).
The British Government is described, throughout the declaration, as tyrannical, usurping, neglectful, antagonistic, perfidious and cruel, whereas the American subjects are characterized as the pitiful victims of this opressive government, who are abhored by the thought of fighting their own English brethren, but who can no longer stand English rule and must therefore rely on the protection of divine providence to render them victorious in their fight for independence and dignity.
Most corrections or additions in this declaration are done to stress the severity of the American situation and the urgent necessity of independence; however, there are two corrections ("[...] BY DECLARING US OUT OF HIS PROTECTION, AND WAGING WAR AGAINST US [withdrawing his governors, and declaring us out of his allegiance and protection] [...]", page 26; "[...] WOULD INEVITABLY [were likely to] [...]", page 27) which serve to soften the severity of the tone, most likely in an attempt to assure complete accuracy. In the closing sections, two main alterations are made: the order of sentences is altered in order to have a more logical and less repetitive text, and two phrases are added which reflect the religious beliefs of the American people - "[...] appealing to the supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, [...]" (page 27); "[...] with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, [...]" (page 27). These religious phrases also attribute authority to the arguments of the representatives, indicating them as righteous and godly.
The text reflects the Representatives of the United States of America’s strong legitimacy to declare the independence and that feeling of legitimacy is conveyed through the use of stylistic features, chosen words and expressions, repetitions across the text from its beginning “The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America” to its end “sacred honor”. That legitimacy is strengthened by a persuasive description of the people’s believes and good character, their union and also by the terrible difficulties that they endure.
The pronoun “We” is used in opposition to the pronoun “He”, referring the United Kingdom King, and to the pronoun “They”, referring to the “armed troops”. This opposition reflects distance in ideology. It becomes definitive in the sentence beginning with “Nor have we been wanting…”. It is also used to define Americans, different from British. The text describes the tyranny of British, but in the sentence “We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity”, its describing how Americans are.
The pronouns “They”, “Them”, “Their” are also used to talk about groups or matters regarding the United States: districts of people, legislative bodies, laws for naturalization of foreigners, like, for example, in the sentence “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”, but when the matter is big, like food, army, laws, trade with all parts of the world, justice, government, attacks on people or the land, the chosen pronouns are “Our” and “Us”, like it happens in the sentence “For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments”. The use of “Our” is not only reinforcing union but is also emotional.
In the final paragraph, the statement of independence is made and to reinforce its formality, pronouns “They” and “Them” are used when referring to the states. However, in the last sentence of this paragraph, the text uses again “We” to reflect their humble spirit when facing Divine Providence and each other, which reinforces again union and legitimacy.
This last paragraph ends with the use of the feature power of three, which gives more strength to the formal statement. The power of three is also used at the beginning of the text.
Another feature is the listing of the King’s actions against the United States. The list contains twenty seven sentences, the majority beginning with “He has”, nine beginning with “For”. One of the sentences begins with “He is”, the present here conveys urgency. The threats are very real now.
The listing helps to give more legitimacy and also to reinforce the union, but the feature that most expresses the right to become independent is the great humbleness and the great respect to God and others. This is a strong opposition against the evil that United Kingdom displays. Expressions and words like “the powers of the earth”, “laws of nature”, “Nature’s God entitle them”, “a decent respect to the opinion of mankind”, “all men are created equal”, “they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights”, “just powers”, “safety”, “happiness”, “Prudence”, “Liberty”, “sacred honor” and also the patience that repeatedly they show towards their oppressor shows the superior qualities of the people of the United States”, reinforcing once again their legitimacy. These kinds of sentences are, however, absent from the listing of the king’s faults.
The Declaration of Independence was written with the purpose of galvanizing American patriots and officializing the desire for independence from the British crown before the international community. After all, it explains the nature of the bond between a government and its subjects, under what circumstances such bond should be abolished and then goes on to delineate every policy viewed as an attack on colonial life from the first measures in the Grenville Program began in 1763 all the way through the Intolerable Acts of 1774. Understanding this background is paramount when analyzing the language adopted by Jefferson and what was then revised by the Continental Congress. Literary works were quite important in the British Empire and its colonies—from the writings of John Dickinson, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine. Everything published had a political tone that was consumed by the population. We also have to keep in mind that Jefferson was a hardliner. He had fervently supported war with the crown well before the first shots were fired at Lexington, he was a Virginian gentleman who owned slaves and had diversions of opinion with many other founders from the northern colonies like Alexander Hamilton and others who later were called the Federalists, when the debate on whether to ratify the Constitution happened in 1787-1788.
The use of personal pronouns by Jefferson is evident and quite effective. In my view it wasn’t used so much as to pit the colonists against British Rule (British Parliament enactments, the standing armies in Boston did that easily). Rather to unify American patriots who by July 1776 were already in conflict with British soldiers for over a year. If you read “1776” by David McCullough you find that when the Declaration was written, colonial identity had not been shaped into the United States of America. Forty per cent of the population of the colonies actively participated in the war but many would go back to their lands and families and leave their ranks. They were defending their homes and families—they had no sense of nationhood (many identified only with their colony in particular). Jefferson used a very powerful line, one that is still referenced daily in the United States by politicians, and highly regarded by Americans. “We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by the Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness;” After using this very powerful and unifying "We" he is consistent throughout using collective terms like "our" and “us.”
Before the delineation of injuries later on, I also noticed that Jefferson refers to the King as the "…present king of Great Britain,” not our king. Then he lists every injury by the King and his parliament and even his sequence is done with purpose. He lists them according to importance, relevance and notoriety, from least to most. Towards the end of the list he begins to mention the really inflammatory actions that outraged colonists into violence i.e. standing armies in times of peace, suspending trial by jury in Boston, impressment of American sailors, etc. Jefferson’s repeated use of “He” is the recurrence of epanaphora as rhetoric device. Jefferson also uses some alliteration to make important points stick out i.e. “…nature and of nature’s God…,” “…these truths to be...,” “…life, liberty…” I also found interesting the usage of negative actions listed. The verbs used are mostly strong action verbs in negative context i.e. “refused,” “forbidden,” “obstructed,” “dissolved,” “affected,” “abdicated,” “plundered,” “constrained.”
By taking a look at the use of pronouns in The Declaration of Independence, we can see it mirrors the author’s intentions.
The Declaration begins by separating both parties: „one people“ (p.26, l.1) (the American colonies) and „another“ (l.2) (The British Government) from which they wish to be freed.
It is followed by an assertive argument about the right of the people to be insurgent against a ruler based on despotism. Here the use of pronouns becomes evident as a resource to enumerate the wrong doings of the „present king of Great Britain“ (p.26, ll.26 and 27), to which all the 19 repetitions of „He“ in the beginning of each sentence refer to. A great piece of this declaration focuses on exposing british tyranny, such as, in general, the violence with which they have „destroyed the violence of [their] people.“ (p.26, l.81).
The use of the pronoun „we“ is proeminent when the discourse takes another turn: despite the american colonies‘ petitions, their rights did not cease to be violated. In this part of the text the representatives expose (very succinctly) the consequences that will be suffered, as we notice by the littler use of the pronoun „we“ against the greater use of the pronoun „he“ which as mentioned before, served the purpose of asserting the suffering they had gone through.
In conclusion, the final version of the closing section is a textual evidence of the real seperation that must be put in place, and that can be seen by the action that the „we“ or „our“ takes against the „he“ or „they“, which also happened in the beginning of the text with the colonies‘ proclamation of their rights.
I believe the most common rethorical device in The Declaration of Indepence to be repetition and enumeration. Not only the repetition of pronouns accompanied by the enumeration of the king’s bad deeds, but also of the conjunction „that“, that summarizes 5 self-evident truths in the beginning of the second paragraph (all men are created equal, certain inaliable rights – life liberty and the pursuit of happiness –, the consent of the governed, the right to abolish a government) (p.26, ll.7-15).
Words such as „rights“, „consent“, the verb „abolish“ or its synonym „throw off“ are closely linked to the american colonies, while the words „tyranny“, „refused“, the verb „obstruct“ and others such as „impose“, „subject“ and „destroy“ are related to the British Government. This text could be divided into infinite semantic fields, although fundamentally, I believe it could be divided simply into Liberation and Oppression.
The semantic fields present in the declaration are a reflection of the way the British Government and the American Subjects are described. The former is described as tyrant, cruel, arbitrary, barabarous and as being enemies (in war), and the latter are described as being the target of that government that oppresses them, obstructs them, forbidds them, etc.
Firstly, I believe the corrections to be a way of simplifying the understanding/interpretation of the text: „CERTAIN [inherent and]“, „REPEATED [unremitting]“, to assuage the tone of the representatives, for example, with the removal of the word „eternal“ preceeding „separation“ (p.27), but mainly to again emphasize the suffering of the american people and their ideals, along with the additions: „BY DECLARING US OUT OF HIS PROTECTION, AND WAGING WAR AGAINST US“, „EXCITED DOMESTIC INSURRECTION AMONG US (...)“ (p.26 and 27).
DANIELA COELHO
Several corrections were made to Thomas Jefferson’s draft, many parts of the original draft were struck out, but also, some words were added. One of the biggest changes can be seen on page 27: the removal of a long paragraph that imputes King George III the responsibility of the slave trade that was taking place. Thomas Jefferson goes as far as saying that the King “has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce”. It might just be that Jefferson’s efforts to attribute the perpetuation of slavery upon the King are also related to his own feeling of being “enslaved” by the British government. And although this was a very important statement, it was taken out of the final piece, since many of the Founders were slave owners themselves and the slave trade was profitable for many people. So being, keeping these accusations would be hypocritical, therefore the Congress might have considered this unnecessary or not relevant in the argument itself.
The Declaration of Independence, created in 1776 by Thomas Jefferson, marks the independence of the American colonies from the Kingdom of Great Britain. In this Declaration, the grievances of the colonies against King George III are listed, so as to justify the colonies' want of freedom and political independence. The representatives of the United States of America signed the Declaration of Independence on the 4th of July, the date that is now celebrated as the Independence day.
Throughout the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson creates a clear divide between the British and the American people. The use of personal pronouns makes this very clear, as he refers to the British as "they", as opposed to "we", the Americans, who Jefferson considers to be unified and represented by the people assembled in General Congress.
Twenty paragraphs (though two of them were struck out by Congress) begin with "He has", enumerating the despicable actions of King George III that they are distancing themselves from. Using this anaphor, Jefferson shows very clearly that the British King's actions are no longer representing the Americans' best interests. Another rhetorical device used in this text is an antithesis - "ENEMIES IN WAR, IN PEACE FRIENDS!" (p. 27). The last paragraph of the Declaration opens with an appositive - "We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America in General Congress assembled" (p.27) - which serves the purpose of reiterating who is making the declaration.
Words in the semantic fields of republicanism and liberalism, such as "liberty", "rights", "laws" and "congress" are recurring in this text. Considering the main intent behind this Declaration is justifying the independence of the Unites States of America, overthrowing the British government and establishing a republic, it is natural that words from these semantic fields are used. The arguments used are based on John Locke's social contract theory, as well as the inalienable rights to life and liberty, which are strongly connected to the ideology of liberalism.
The British government, on the one hand, is described as tyrannical and cruel. King George III has, as Jefferson points out, not only ignored the needs of the American colonies, but, in fact, actively opposed the administration of justice, thus denying the American people their rights. The American subjects, on the other hand, are characterised as the victims of the King's oppressive actions. While Thomas Jefferson describes the American colonies as respectful of the inalienable rights, he accuses the British government of committing the most horrific crimes against innocent people, including slavery, in spite of Jefferson himself being a prominent slaveholder.
Many corrections and deletions were made to Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence. Most of these corrections were minor and seem to be an attempt at making the text clearer and the tone less severe. A noteworthy change is the deletion of the paragraph that refers to slave trading. This deletion is presumably due to the fact that many still wished to continue trading slaves and using slave labour. In the closing section of the Declaration there was a change in the order of the sentences. In addition to this alteration, two phrases were added. In these phrases, they refer to God, so as to reaffirm the religion on which their power relies.
All in all, the Declaration of Independence set the foundation for the nation that came to be the Unites States of America, based on the concept of liberty. Despite establishing as its very intention the respect of each person's inalienable rights, it is flawed in that it blatantly disregards the rights of the slaves, that were conveniently left out of the final draft, as well as women, who at that time in history were not allowed to participate in most aspects of political activity and were, therefore, not represented in the Congress.
The first thing to struck us, in an immediate an visual way, is the particular use of personal pronouns.
The anaphor "He has" is repeated 27 times and goes on for the most part of the Declaration, thus making space in the last sentences to the use of an inclusive "we", used to mark the contrast between the King of England's tyranny and inequities and the colonies' mutual desire for independence.
Between the corrections made in what we could call the "revision days" by the Congress, we find an entire paragraph, concerning slavery, that has been struck out: Jefferson gives an explanation in his autobiography, saying South Carolina and Georgia "still wished to continue (the importation of slaves)".
As I said before, the distance between the Brithish King and the American colonies is marked by the use of pronouns. However, we find it clear in the closing section, where Jefferson refers to the King as "the king of Great Britain". So, the indipendece is also marked though these words.
SARA PAGLIANI
The Declaration of Independence, mainly wrote by Thomas Jefferson, is the document about the colonists’ defense of own rights of man. It is divided in three sections : the Declaration of rights of man precepts and the Revolution Legitimacy than a list of certain accusations against George III, King of Great Britain and Ireland and finally the official Declaration of Independence.
In the text we can find that the use of personal pronoun (We, Our) underlines the idea of union and aim of a common purpose; then there are two different important semantic fields : the first one which includes positive nouns as Life, Liberty, Happiness, Safety, Petitions, Redress, “native” Justice and Magnanimity refers to American subjects whilst the second semantic field is linked to the British Government . It indeed includes negative words as “abuses, usurpations, Despotism, Tyranny, cruelty, perfidy, barbarous ages, unworthy, even Desolation and Death”. It especially refers to “the history of the present King (George III), a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having indirect object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny”. Jefferson wrote a list about the causes which impelled them to the separation therefore what the satanic despot George III (HE) did to annihilate everything “ in every stage of Oppressions”. We could notice in it a great use of negative verbs which mark the idea of negation , as first of all “to refuse” then “to forbid, neglected, to dissolve, to obstruct, to make someone depend on him, to abdicate, to plunder, to burn and to destroy lives”.
The language is pithy and stately reaching the climax in the end : the maxim, written with initial capital letters, in which the Representative of United States of America show their rectitude of intentions appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world , swearing on their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.
The Declaration of Independence, signed on the 4 th of July, is seen as the pillar of the American way of life. This declaration points out the differences between the British (they) and the Americans (we). The pronouns used throughout the text are there to emphasize the separation between the two countries. By calling the british “they” and the americans “we” the wish of separation from the british becomes pretty evident. They’re not a “big happy family”, the americans do not wish to be mixed and caught on the bristish tyranny and cruelty, therefore, these personal pronouns are used to reinforce that idea.
The british government is described as tyrant, cruel and usurper, with the british ruler being accused of usurping American colonies (“The history of the present king of Great Britain is a history of REPEATED [unremitting] injuries and usurpations, ALL HAVING [among which appears no solitary fact to contradict the uniform tenor of the rest, but all have] in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states.” Page 26) and neglecting America’s legislation and constitutions (“He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitutions and unacknowledged by our laws […].” Page 26). On the other hand, we have the United States of America, the ones being abused by the british ruler, the ones that in no way want to see themselves being a part of the tyranny perpetrated by the british king, therefore, wanting to separate their government from his. In my opinion, the deletions and additions made to the text were made for two reasons: to make the text’s reading easier and to emphasize the urgency of the separation of the two governments. The previous quotation of the text shows a bit of that. The words cut off were replaced by simpler ones in order to make the reading easier. Also, the capitalization of the words added emphasizes to Americas’ position as a victim that has suffered repeatedly in the hands of the british. The 19 paragraph long enumeration made by the congress aims to expose the tyranny, negligence and cruelty of the british ruler and to justify why United States of America wants no part in the british empire and wishes to be independent.
Reading this text, I came to the conclusion that it is essentially a text that puts in evidence two different realities. The british reality, their tyranny and their oppression, and the American reality, ruled by the concern about “[their] fellow citizens” and the ideals of freedom and equality amongst them (“We hold these truths as evidence: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with CERTAIN [inherent and] inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness […].” Page 26). With these two different realities that are incapable to coexist, there’s the need to separate from a nation that does not promote the same values as them.
SEMIH YARAROGLU
The use of pronouns is really effective. That's why it has strategic purpose. For example: he first sentence, beginning "Nor . . . ," shifts attention quickly and cleanly away from George III to the colonists' "British brethren." The "have we" of the first sentence is neatly reversed in the "We have" at the start of the second. Sentences two through four, containing four successive clauses beginning "We Have . . . ," give a pronounced sense of momentum to the paragraph while underlining the colonists' active efforts to reach the British people. The repetition of "We have" here also parallels the repetition of "He has" in the grievances against George III.
The fifth sentence--"They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity"--contains one of the few metaphors in the Declaration and acquires added force by its simplicity and brevity, which contrast with the greater length and complexity of the preceding sentence. The final sentence unifies the paragraph by returning to the pattern of beginning with "We," and its intricate periodic structure plays off the simple structure of the fifth sentence so as to strengthen the cadence of the entire paragraph. The closing words--"Enemies in War, in Peace Friends"--employ chiasmus, a favorite rhetorical device of eighteenth-century writers. How effective the device is in this case can be gauged by rearranging the final words to read, "Enemies in War, Friends in Peace," which weakens both the force and harmony of the Declaration's phrasing. The heavy use of personal pronouns continues, but by now the colonists have become the instigators of action as they actively seek redress of their grievances. This is marked by a shift in idiom from "He has" to "We have": "We have petitioned for redress . . . ," "We have reminded them . . . ," "We have appealed to their . . . ," and "We have conjured them." But "they have been deaf" to all pleas, so "We must . . . hold them" as enemies. By the conclusion, only the colonists remain on stage to pronounce their dramatic closing lines: "We . . . solemnly publish and declare . . ." And to support this declaration, "we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
The persistent use of "he" and "them," "us" and "our," "we" and "they" personalizes the British-American conflict and transfigures it from a complex struggle of multifarious origins and diverse motives to a simple moral drama in which a patiently suffering people courageously defend their liberty against a cruel and vicious tyrant. It also reduces the psychic distance between the reader and the text and coaxes the reader into seeing the dispute with Great Britain through the eyes of the revolutionaries. As the drama of the Declaration unfolds, the reader is increasingly solicited to identify with Congress and "the good People of these Colonies," to share their sense of victimage, to participate vicariously in their struggle, and ultimately to act with them in their heroic quest for freedom. In this respect, as in others, the Declaration is a work of consummate artistry. From its eloquent introduction to its aphoristic maxims of government, to its relentless accumulation of charges against George III, to its elegiac denunciation of the British people, to its heroic closing sentence, it sustains an almost perfect synthesis of style, form, and content.
In the first paragraph of the Declaration, there are no pronouns used for the colonies nor for Britain.It speaks of "a people" with a necessity to assume "the equal and independent station to which the laws of nature and of god's nature entitle them."
It is in the second paragraph, with the use of "we" as a sentence opener, that it is made clear that this people is the United States citizens.
"(...) whenever any form of government shall become destructive to those ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it (...)"- So far, said government hasn't been named. It is by the ending half of the paragraph that it is made clear that the target of this text is Britain. The pronouns "they/them" when referring to Britain, and "he" when referring to King George III help to create the distance between America and England.
As was said before, the Declaration of Independence is written in such a way as to denote a division bettween the American colonizers and the British people. The use of the pronouns "we", "us", "our/s" have the intention of unifying the colonizers under one banner, and not as separate colonies. Another aspect to consider is that Jefferson appeals to emotion as a rhetoric devise. He seeks to unify the colonies against a single enemy, the great oppressor that is King George III. By enumerating the crimes which he has committed towards the colonizers, such as pitting them against eachother, not accepting their laws and even denying them fair trials, Jefferson is trying to shock people into bounding against a common enemy, therefore creating a nation feeling that didn't exist before. Furthermore, after a long enumeration of the King's wrongdoings towards his distant subjects, Jefferson goes as far as accusing the British People of ignoring their situation and "the voice of justice and of consanguinity" (p. 27). This leaves the colonizers no other choice but to separate themselves from the British People, whom they cannot consider anymore as brothers.
There are two major removals from the original text. The Congress chose to leave out the section about slavery, on account of it being such an important activity both to the southern states of South Carolina and Georgia and the northern states. However, the second section concerns the assertion of the colonizers own value, for they emigrated and settled at their own account, "at the expense of our own blood and treasure" (p. 27), without any assistance from the Crown. Jefferson goes on, saying that they "adopted one common king, thereby laying a foundation for perpetual league and amity" with the British, but that they never intended to submit to the British parliament. This section may have been removed due to its perhaps too agressive content toward the British, and it shows that the Congress, despite wanting to cut the ties between the colonies and Great Britain, did not want to affront their former brothers unnecessarily.
It was also previously pointed out that the semantic fields used to describe the two peoples is very different, maybe even opposite. The US colonizers are described as seekers of freedom, equality, safety, prudence, the peoples' rights and even life itself, whereas the british King is described as a tyrant, a warmonger between his own people, as a distant, careless and even terrible king to the coloziners.
There is none more aspect to bear in mind, and it concerns the legitimacy of the government. Whereas king George's only source of power came from God, the US government roots its power both on "divine providence" and the people. The people have the power abolish a government who doesn't obey to the principles stablished by the "Creator", such as "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" (p. 26). The authority of the government comes from the people's consent and is not solely based on God.
Every single american is proudful about his/hers Freedom and Independence. The 4th of July is the greatest of American holidays: the biggest and most important country in the western world STOPS to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Therefore, both Thomas Jefferson and all representative were aware of the importance of this document. Thomas Jefferson's writing is very personal, opinative and definite concerning the separation of England and the Thirteen Colonies. The recurrent use of personal prounouns, such as "we", "he", "ours", "they", allow the reader to side with the americans. It allows the writer to not only play with the compassion of the person who reads, but also to streghten the idea of separation. Most political documents, writing or chronicles had an impersonal tone, not connecting the reader with the issue discussed, but Jefferson's strategie was quite the opposite, to show that the people that were suffering in the hands of the English Government were regular human beings, a group of "we" that just wanted to defend the "ours", against the evil "they" and the tyrant "He", he presented the issue of liberty as a passionate, very dear issue to everyone and presents the divison of both countries as natural.
Furthermore, the writer places an enourmous anaphora in the beginning of twenty paragraphs. He employs the personal prounoun "He" in order to acurately blame the responsible of every wrong-doing that has happened in the Thirteen Colonies: King George III. This rhetorical device presents this strong dislike as a greater hatred. "He" is the one who does not allow the colonies to be safe, free, represented, responsible, just, independent. Jefferson's permant and continual "He" conducts the reader to a focused disgust of this character and the English Government, which "forbiden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance" or "for depriving us IN MANY CASES of the benefits of trial by jury".
Finally, this edition presents the two different declaration: the official one and Jefferson's first draft. The point of view of an opressed citizen is much more compassionate, cruel and true that the point of view of a country, and therefore, there are some "corrections" which tone down the crude, truthful sentences and judgements of the Third President. Two entire paragraphs were excluded due to their nature: the presentation of the vilest and dire crimes of this King, but the Representatives thought that it was too much and it would bring anything but more pain and less respect from the rest of the world. It is a toned down version but it conducts more seriousness and respect.
When reading the Declaration of Representatives the first think that one notices is the constant use of the words "He has". At first one might wonder why the author decided to do such thing but after reading more of the Declaration one starts to understand that the use of that expression is mainly to emphasize the fact that the English have caused the US to have poor conditions be it in the legal system, as the Declaration mentions: " He has refused his assent to laws..." (page 26). Great Britain's king has also cut out the possibility of the US to make any trades to with other countries aside from the UK: " for cutting off our trade with all parts of the world" (page 26).
In the "Declaration of Representatives" it is clear how the US portray the UK and the differences that are addressed in the declaration are explicit. The first thing written in the declaration is the fact that according to the US' belief, all men are equal and are bestowed with a inalienable rights such as laws and the right to live, for instance however the UK deprived them from all of these. Not only did they refuse to abide by the law system but they also corrupted it and every time a citizen had to be judged he would either be sent on a boat to be judged in the UK or they would simply convict him without even looking at the facts.
KANSU EKİN TANCA
The Declaration of Independence is marked with its arguments and the language that is used in stating those arguments. Therefore, it is worth considering that Jefferson has formed his text to be read and discussed by the people from different backgrounds. We can associate his use of language and tone with these ideas.
Until the end of the text, Jefferson uses "he" for the King, whereas he uses “we” for his people. Although he is directly referring to the king, he does not address him by using his name. He mentions him as "the present king of Great Britain” (p.26). It can suggest that Jefferson tries to keep his distance from the British Government. Particularly the King is shown as an unjust ruler who uses his absolute power against the colonies and thus who is "unfit to be the ruler of a FREE people" (p.27).
With the second paragraph, the "truths" are clearly mentioned and all the issues concerning legislative bodies, rights of the people and representatives are openly discussed. (p.26). The Declaration is gradually developing in many different senses. First of all, the issues that are discussed are getting more complicated and more specific. He starts with the basic rights and comments on the King's power on the legislative process. Then he makes direct references to what "they" experienced so far. As the text progresses, the language becomes sharp, harsh and even more open. The tone reaches its highest point when he says "He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people"(p.26).
He gives every reason behind their Declaration. The Declaration is not only for the British Government and but also for the colonies. By writing this Declaration, "the good people of these colonies" can also be provoked; and with this detailed information they can support and hold these truths more consciously (p.27).
In the last paragraph, with the corrections that are made, the Declaration ends with certain sentences, and thus the phrases reflect the mind of a more strong-willed nation.
Most political documents are written in an impersonal tone. However, when reading the Declaration of Independence we come across a recurrent use of personal pronouns such as "he", "we", "they" and "ours". This serves to strengthen the very definite separation between the British and the remaining thirteen colonies. In this document, the pronoun "he" refers to King Charles III, who did not allow the colonies to be safe, free, and well, independent. The pronouns "we" and "they" refer to the american people and the british people/colonizers each. Lastly, the pronoun "ours" refers, again, to the americans' rights, lands and freedom.
The use of such pronouns and the denouncing of the wrong-doings made by the king intend to emphasize the behavioral and political differences between both parties, making the reader empathize with the opressed side, the americans.
The Declaration of Independence addresses the diferences between the americans and the british people as well as the oppression of the americans caused by the latter.
Firstly, in the beginning of the text we see the use of “one” (p.26) – which relates to “one people” (of the United States of America) – and “another” which relates to the other people who the colonisers of the USA are connected to – the people of Great Britain. This usage of personal pronouns immediately differentiates one people from the other and sets the tone for the document.
On a second instance, the usage of “we” and “us” – this “we” and “us” being the people of the United States of America – and of “he”, repeated multiple times throughout the text, reinforces the conflict and the differences set between the people of both territories (the USA and GB). This “he”, of course, refers to the oppressor of the “us” and the “we” – King George III of Great Britain, the one called a “tyrant” (p.26) whose actions have led the people of the United States to take their path towards independence.
Throughout the text, the discourse used by Jefferson tries to provoke people’s emotions to stick together and, for the first time since the beginning of the colonisation, fight against the rule of tyranny they were being imposed by George III. Jefferson shows the reasons as to why the need for independence is urgent to establish a free country. With the listing of these reasons, it becomes obvious to the people of the United States that these issues affect every single one of the colonisers, hence the need for a revolution. To take this into effect, Jefferson mostly uses the words “tyranny”, “refused”, “forbidden”, “obstructing”, “subject”, “imposing” all in reference to King George III. In contrast, in reference to the people of the USA the words used are “rights”, “life”, “liberty”, “safety” and “happiness”. With the usage of these words, it is also shown the difference between the nature of the British rule of its colony and the government the people of the United States of America which to have in their country.
When it comes to the editing done to the text, it is relevant to refer how, in the last page, the whole paragraph that relates to the distancing of the USA away from Great Britain and all its people is edited out. With this, it is shown the anger with which Jefferson regarded the ones responsible for the wars waging in the soon-to-be independent territory. A second whole paragraph that has been removed from the document deals with human rights, with references to slavery which show Jefferson positioning himself strongly against it. "(...)violating its most sacred right of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating and carrying them into slavery(...)". Jefferson also mentions how the enslavement of people goes against Christianity and what it stands for, since the main goal of a Christian King should be to protect the lives of his people. Once again, it is shown how Jefferson thought ahead of his own time, taking way more radical positions than his peers.
Lastly, the final version makes a mention to “the supreme judge of the world” (p.27) and “divine providence” (p.27) as the main guidance through the course to independence. Jefferson’s version, on the other hand, does not, showing how his view differed from the one of the majority, which puts the power in the hands of the people, and separates the divine from such power.
The use of personal pronouns in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America has a very important role in the text: "He" is used throughout the text to refer to King George the III and it emphasises the fact that it is the King - on the eyes of the people in the colonies - that is directly responsible for the problems that the Americans face ("He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good." (31-32); "He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance (...)" (33-34). The use of "He" in the various paragraphs also precedes the paragraph in which Thomas Jefferson calls the King a "tyrant" ("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." (112-113) – Jefferson points out all the bad deeds the King as done before calling him a "tyrant".
There are two major semantic fields explored throughout the text: the semantic field of the British monarchy, which Jefferson describes in words such as "tyrant", "usurpation", "forbid", "neglect", "suspend", "refuse", "obstruct", "constrained" - all words that have a negative undertone (as it is the point of the text); and the semantic field that describes the people of the United States of America: words such as "good", "free" and "independent" are used to portray the United States and its people as good people who deserve and should seek out their independence.
The British monarchy (and its government) is highly condemned in the text of the Declaration of Independence for its actions that have betrayed and are deemed unfair by the people of the United States. Sentences such as "We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend AN UNWARRANTABLE jurisdiction over US" (117-119) and "(...) we HAVE appealed to their native justice and magnanimity AND WE HAVE CONJURED THEM BY the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations which WOULD INEVITABLY interrupt our connection and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity." (126-131) show that the British monarchy was in fact, only acting in favour of their interests and do not take into account the interests of their brethren, the Americans. The American subjects, on the other hand, are described as people who are treated unjustly by the British monarchy (as shown above) and who, above all else, deserve to be treated just like the British and not have their rights diminished or revoked.
Religious expressions such as "(...) appealing to the supreme judge of the world (...)" (147-148) and "(...) with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence (...)" (166-167) were added to emphasise the fact that the American people were people of God. In Jefferson's original draft there were no references to religion because he believed religion and politics should be separated from each other when ruling a country, but in the final draft the references were added by his colleagues in the Congress because they believed religion and politics should go hand in hand and religion – and God – were a vital part of what made a good man (and a good politician). The religious references were even added when talking about the King – as the "CHRISTIAN king of Great Britain" (100-101), the Americans saw him in an even worse light because no good person that was Christian was able to commit such atrocities in the name of Christ, which is why the Declaration mentions that the King uses "INFIDEL powers" (100).
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