On July 2, 1776, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman, and Thomas Jefferson finished the final draft of their Declaration of Independence. Two days later, on July 4, delegates from the Continental Congress passed the declaration unanimously. The declaration contained a basic but integral principle which is important even today, and justified the independence movement for the newly formed United States of America.
The preamble to the declaration established a small but vital principle that "whenever any form of government becomes destructive...it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it." This principle has continued to be significant to the United States
because it gives every citizen the right to question the government and to actually do something about it.
The second part of the declaration consisted of a list of justifications for departing from the British Empire. Some major justifications which were listed are: "He[King George III] has forbidden his Governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance," quartering "large bodies of armed troops" among people in the New world and for "imposing taxes on us without our consent."
Finally the Continental Congress began the process of applying these principles when the declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776. After this, the Congress sent the document to the printer. Then, by the end of 1776, independent governments were functioning in every state except Georgia and New York . Each new state government had three branches: an executive branch, a legislature, and a court system. Most state constitutions guaranteed certain inalienable rights that the governments could not take away.
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