Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms
E15365
The Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms was a 1775 document issued by the Second Continental Congress that justified the American colonies’ resort to armed resistance against British rule at the outset of the Revolutionary War.
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
American Revolutionary War document
→
historical document → political manifesto → |
| adoptedBy |
Second Continental Congress
→
|
| asserts |
that the British government had violated colonial rights
→
that the colonies did not seek independence at that time → that the colonies had taken up arms in self-defense → |
| audience |
British government
→
inhabitants of the Thirteen Colonies → international observers of the Anglo-American conflict → |
| author |
John Dickinson
→
Thomas Jefferson → |
| commissionedBy |
Second Continental Congress
→
|
| countryOfOrigin |
Thirteen Colonies
→
|
| dateAdopted |
1775-07-06
→
|
| followedBy |
United States Declaration of Independence
→
|
| genre |
political declaration
→
|
| historicalPeriod |
American Revolution
→
American Revolutionary War → |
| influenced |
revolutionary rhetoric in the American colonies
→
|
| influencedBy |
Enlightenment political thought
→
|
| language |
English
→
|
| legalForm |
resolution of the Second Continental Congress
→
|
| legalStatusAtTime |
assertion of loyalty to King George III while resisting Parliament
→
|
| locationOfDrafting |
Philadelphia
→
|
| mentionsEvent |
Battles of Lexington and Concord
→
Boston Tea Party → Intolerable Acts → |
| placeOfAdoption |
Philadelphia
→
|
| politicalAlignment |
Patriot cause
→
|
| politicalContext |
escalation of armed conflict between colonial militias and British forces
→
rejection of British attempts to enforce parliamentary supremacy in the colonies → |
| precededBy |
Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress
→
|
| publisher |
Second Continental Congress
→
|
| purpose |
to explain the causes of conflict between the American colonies and Great Britain
→
to justify the American colonies’ resort to armed resistance against British rule → to rally colonial support for armed defense of colonial rights → |
| relatedDocument |
Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress
→
Declaration of Independence → Olive Branch Petition → |
| signedBy |
delegates of the Second Continental Congress
→
|
| subject |
American colonies–Great Britain relations
→
colonial grievances against British policies → constitutional rights of Englishmen in the colonies → right of resistance to tyranny → |
| title |
Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms
→
|
| year |
1775
→
|
Referenced by (4)
| Subject (surface form when different) | Predicate |
|---|---|
|
Declaration of Rights and Grievances (1774)
→
|
followedBy |
|
Olive Branch Petition
→
|
relatedTo |
|
Second Continental Congress
→
|
significantEvent |
|
Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms
→
|
title |