Introduction
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence to highlight his sentiments about the colonies remaining under the rule of the Great Britain. Jefferson was particularly against the King’s rule because he believed that the Great Britain was imposing oppressive laws on the colonies. Jefferson believed that the colonies had the capabilities of developing a government that would provide the people with rules that facilitated political, social, and economic liberation (“The Argument of the Declaration of Independence” par. 3). According to the arguments made by Jefferson, he was particularly against three major issues, as discussed in this paper.
Trade Issues
The first argument was that the Great Britain was taking advantage of the communities in the colonies because they could only export their produce to the Great Britain. The king had prohibited trade between the colonies and any other nation in the world; hence, the victimized communities could only sell their surplus products at relatively low prices to the Great Britain. Additionally, the King ensured that the colonies could only receive exports from the Great Britain (Jefferson and Fink 24).
It is also apparent that this arrangement provided the Great Britain with a chance to sell the products at a high profit to continue benefiting financially from the colonies. Jefferson expressed his concern that the King and his administration were exploiting the colonies indirectly (Slade 58).
Unlawful Taxes
The society in the colonies was angry at the Great Britain for being unfair in the imposition of taxes. Jefferson rebuked the fact that the majority of the taxes had been developed without the consent of the people. It is apparent that the society was willing to pay reasonable taxes, but the authorities in the Great Britain were notorious for introducing taxes whenever a commodity was in high demand.
This led to a rebellion on the part of the people in the colonies (Wills 167). For instance, the Boston Tea Party is one of the incidences that clearly highlighted the anger on the part of society. This incidence involved a group of men opposing the high taxes on tea. The men snuck into a ship ferrying tea, and they dumped tons of tea into the Boston Harbor to demonstrate their anger toward the King and his administration.
Unfair Treatment by the Troops
The King had claimed that the many soldiers deployed in the colonies were present to enhance security for the people, but they were the main instigators of crime. Jefferson highlighted the fact that the soldiers were treating the members of the society inhumanely, and they were involved in using violence to have their way in the community (Balko 44).
The protests against the soldiers led to the Third Amendment of the Bill of Rights, which stipulated that soldiers could not barge into homes in times of peace, and even during conflicts, they had to follow some rules to ensure the people were not victimized. However, the soldiers still broke this rule, and the King did nothing to mitigate the activity.
These arguments were valid, and they still apply in the contemporary world, whereby American society is still fighting against the violation of liberties like privacy. As the government fights to mitigate security issues in the nation, there have been many reports of harassment by civilians on the part of the law enforcers (Merill 124). As Jefferson’s argument revealed, when the society is not contented with the ruling strategies and policies of the administration, the people are bound to fight back to form a better government.
Works Cited
Balko, Radley. “How did America’s Police become a Military Force on the Streets.” ABAJ 99.1 (2013): 44. Print.
Jefferson, Thomas, and Sam Fink. The Declaration of Independence. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2002. Print.
Merrill, Thomas. “The Later Jefferson and the Problem of Natural Rights.” Perspectives on Political Science 44.2 (2015): 122-130. Print.
Slade, Joseph. “Thomas Jefferson.” American Literature and Science 1.1 (2015): 58. Print.
The Argument of the Declaration of Independence 2014. Web.
Wills, Garry. Inventing America: Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002. Print.