Students often think that learning about the past is irrelevant to the lives we now lead in the present. However, in the case of the Declaration of Independence, the writers and signers were confronting a big problem and making a big change to address it. They were making a break with the past and creating a new country with a new way of thinking about human rights and the relationship between the government and the people. We now live in the country they created. It Crucial moments of big change do not only occur in the past. In fact, these crucial moments are coming faster and faster as technology speeds up both communication and social change. We may soon find ourselves confronting problems as big as or bigger than those faced by the founders of our country. Indeed we have been facing huge problems every day!
With these thoughts in mind, in what ways do you think that learning more about the Declaration of Independence might help you as a student, as a person, and as a citizen? Do you think that at some point in your life you will have to argue for your own rights, or fight for the rights of people like you? Write down some things you want to know more about.