Why was the Declaration of Independence made?

There were many reasons that the colonies declared independence in 1776. Let us look at a few of them:

• The United States was losing the war against Great Britain in 1776, and desperately needed foreign recognition and assistance, especially from France. Declaring independence made it more diplomatically palatable for the French to intervene, which they did in 1777. It also made it possible to negotiate loans from European governments.


• Many of the colonies were left without government after the British royal government was driven out. They needed to declare their independence in order to craft new constitutions to establish governments at the state level.


• More than a year of war had made many Americans believe that no reconciliation was possible with the mother country. Too many people had died for the war to be a matter of protecting the rights of Americans as British subjects.

The reasons for the Declaration of Independence itself were basically to assert the colonists' case for independence. They grounded their arguments in the natural rights of man, arguing that the British had repeatedly violated these rights. This gave them the right to break away from Great Britain and form their own government, one founded on the principles set out in the Declaration.