Lisa Landolfi

Prof. Tomasek
History 202
The United States: A New Nation, 1776 1836
September 23, 2014
Declaration of Independence
Primary sources can include a document itself that is a piece of history. In this case, I
chose The Declaration of Independence. It is an original document that was written with the
intent to declare the thirteen colonies united and calls for total independence from England.
Primary sources can be anything from a certain time period that shows how someone or in this
case how a nation felt. Primary sources can be in forms of letters, diaries, official documents,
photographs and speeches. They also can be medical records, newspaper articles and even a
recording of music or a television show.
What do we use primary sources for? We look at and study primary sources to gage what
the person writing them felt in regard to the time period it was written in. Historians study
primary sources like The Declaration of Independence or The Constitution to get a better view of
the authors goals and intent. In a secondary source, one uses a primary source to justify or back
up their interpretation of a historical event. As we read in American Scripture, the author
Pauline Maier uses the historical proof of The Declaration of Independence to show in her thesis
that the document was different in the final form than in the original sent to Congress. Maier uses
the document, which is a primary source, in its draft form, to show the work of Thomas Jefferson
and the editing done by Congress. She uses the editing done primarily by Franklin and Adams in
her thesis to prove her point of view. That is what historians do. She compares two primary

sources, the original draft to the finished document of The Declaration of Independence.
Historians use primary sources as examples to support their thesis. Her book then becomes
whats called a secondary source. That means it is written using a primary source, in this case
The Declaration of Independence and its original draft. Many historians give full credit to
Thomas Jefferson for writing The Declaration of Independence but Maier uses primary sources
in her book to dispel this theory.
Primary sources give us insight into the times they were written but must be evaluated
into the times they were written. The most famous line in The Declaration of Independence is
that All men are created equal. What did Jefferson mean with this line? Certainly black slaves,
American Indians and women were not free, yet. By studying the document and making it
relevant to the times, we can better understand Jeffersons thinking. In these times, it meant all
free men had certain rights that they were born with such as life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. Abraham Lincoln went on to use this line that all men are created equal as his
interpretation of a primary source. Lincoln meant black slaves should have the same rights born
to them also. To Lincoln, by 1862, all men are created equal meant just that. In fact, in any
historical document whether its The Constitution or The Declaration of Independence, the courts
are always interpreting these primary sources. The courts are always looking back at what these
documents mean today. These are the most important primary sources that they use to make
judicial decisions. Thus, these primary sources are breathing and living artifacts of the nation.
One can also learn other things by studying primary sources. Who is the intended
audience and what is the purpose? What grammar is used to emphasize the point? In The
Declaration of Independence, the audience and the words are directed at King George III of
England and England itself. The intent was to put down in writing in a formal document what

Congress had already agreed to and debated during the summer of 1776. The oral speech by
Richard Lee that called for independence was then given to a committee to formally petition the
king for independence. The Declaration becomes a primary source, for it is a formal document
declaring total political and economic separation from England. When you look and study The
Declaration of Independence, you see the word we many times in the document. The use of the
word we is important for it is the first time they spoke as one. The authors also start their list of
grievances against the king with each sentence starting with whereas. The use of this
emphasizes the many grievances they had against the king and their reasons for seeking
independence. I learned by studying this primary source that the editors left the preamble intact
for it is brilliant. I also learned that by studying this primary source that Congress was not too
happy with the ending and they changed the resolution to read to be abolished from all
allegiance to the British crown. By studying the original draft and the finished product of The
Declaration of Independence we can learn how changes were made and what they were thinking.
By studying primary sources we get the authors feelings, sentiment and intent. The era
that the source is from and the society or where it was from is essential to understanding it. The
language of the time and the implied meaning will result in a better understanding of the
document and any reaction to it.
We use primary sources to get an unbiased, unopinionated view of a document. It is not
someones opinion of the document, it is the document. It is not written years after in a different
time period or a reaction to something. It is the original and thus is the intent and the views of the
writer and not an interpretation of.