Declaration of Independence - Milestone Documents

Declaration of Independence

( 1776 ) Commentary by Michael A. Genovese and Kristina L. Rioux, Loyola Marymount University

Impact

The Declaration of Independence had a profound impact in its age and far beyond its time. Along with Thomas Paine's Common Sense, the Declaration of Independence was a rousing call to arms at a time when armed insurrection against British rule was not yet a certainty. Jefferson's magnificent document all but sealed the fate of revolution.

While the immediate impact of the Declaration of Independence was felt primarily in colonial America, the long-term impact has been much broader, if harder to measure. The document's creed has been invoked to justify revolutions in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere. Widely read and oft cited, the Declaration remains one of the most influential political documents ever penned by an American.

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The Declaration of Independence (National Archives and Records Administration)

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