The Grievances

The Grievances

1. The Declaration of Independence

   • The Declaration of Independence was ratified‎ on July 4, 1776 and it was written by Thomas Jefferson.
   • The Declaration of Independence's main purpose was to explain to the foreign nations why the thirteen colonies had chosen to separate themselves from Great Britain. It is justifying that the thirteen colonies saw themselves as independent states and that Britain didn't own America.
     • The Declaration of Independence list twenty-seven grievances. The grievances were written and passed in 1774. The grievances are personally directed to the king of Great Britain. Each of the grievances provides an example of how the king is not qualified and doesn't meet the rules of the government.

2. The Bill of Rights

   • The Bill of Rights was written by James Madison and ratified‎ in 1791.
   • The Bill of Rights is made up of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. The amendments support protecting the rights of individuals.
     • The Bill of Rights was written to guarantee that specific rights deemed fundamental to the law were permanently part of the Constitution. They helped change people's minds to ratify the Constitution.

3. The Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights were designed for the protection of the people's rights. Both of the authors of these documents believed in the phrase "all men are created equal." The author of the Declaration of Independence thought that the purpose of the government was for the U.S. to establish a federal government. Also to give the federal government limited powers. The Bill of Rights has specific prohibitions on governmental powers like the grievances in the Declaration of Independence.

4. The Declaration of Sentiments

   • The Declaration of Sentiments is a document that demanded equal social status and legal rights for women, including the right to vote. The document was signed in 1848.
     • Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote the Declaration of Sentiments and she used the Declaration of Independence as a framework.
       • The Declaration of Sentiments includes grievances within it. The grievances are that women were not allowed to vote, married women have no property rights and were not noticed or considered in the eyes of the law, women could not enter the professions such as law or medicine, and women were totally dependent on men and they were robbed of their self-confidence and self-respect. Also women could not do most occupations but if they did have a job they were paid a fraction of what men earned in the same job, women had no means of education, and were no allowed to participate in church affairs. Some others were that husbands had legal power over and responsibility for their wives to the extent that they could imprison or beat them with impunity, divorce and child custody laws favored men, giving no rights to women, and that women had to submit to laws when they had no voice in their formation.
   • Both the Declaration of Independence, the Declaration of Sentiments, and their authors believed in freedom and that everyone is created equal. They also showed their concerns for political freedom and the people who this affected.
   • The authors of the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Sentiments both believe that everyone should be given rights and have certain rights. They should not just be given to certain people. Also both authors state in their documents that people should be given the right to appeal the government, to give ideas that would help better the government.