Propaganda in the Declaration of Independence

A detailed Summary of Propaganda in the Declaration of Independence


On July 4, 1776, the Philadelphia Congress approved a document that would drastically change the course of history. The Declaration of Independence was used to rally the colonists and to convince foreign countries to assist the United States of America in their battle for freedom. The wording and style of the Declaration of Independence made it a masterpiece of propaganda.

The Declaration of Independence was, in many parts, ambiguous. Ambiguity can make it more difficult to refute statements because you must first identify the specifics before you can argue against it. Consider the eighteenth grievance, which said "For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury." This grievance claims that the British took away trial by jury "in many cases," but does not state any specific cases, therefore making it much more difficult to refute. The ambiguity of the eighteenth grievance made the complaint seem worse than it wa


The way the Declaration of Independence was written made it extremely convincing propaganda. The grievances were purposely ambiguous and exaggerated to prove that King George III was trying to establish a tyranny over the colonies. It used emotions to propagate sympathy for the colonies and to unite Americans. It could not have been written any better as a piece of propaganda.

Descriptive and extremely emotional words were used in the last five grievances. The twenty-fourth grievance is a good example. The use of the action verbs plundered, ravaged, burned and destroyed aroused emotions. The words death, desolation, tyranny, cruelty, and perfidy in the next grievance created an adverse feeling towards King George III. The style of writing in these final grievances was excellent propaganda because it used vivid descriptions to fuel hostile sentiments among the Americans and encourage empathy for the colonies in foreign countr

Some common words found in the essay are:
Declaration Independence, Navigation Laws, George III, Philadelphia Congress, declaration independence, United America, Exhibit Hall, Heath Company, , royal veto, King George, king george iii, foreign countries, laws royal, representative houses, george iii, trial jury, king george, laws royal veto, eighteenth grievance, british officers,

Approximate Word count = 635
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics

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