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Our Pennsylvania Story
L E S S ON 1 9
The Declaration of Independence,
United States Constitution,
and Bill of Rights
Get ToKnowMe
1. congress
2. independent
3. freedom
4. government
5. slavery
Declaration of Independence
The English kings and queensmade the laws
and rules for the American colonists. After some
time, many American colonists became angry.
They felt the English laws were unfair.
The leaders of the American colonies agreed to
meet as a group. When a group of leadersmeets,
it is called a
congress
. Philadelphiawas chosen as
ameeting place.
The leaders of the congress decided towrite
a paper. This paper would declare, or say, that
the American colonies were free. Wewould be
independent
fromEngland.
Do you think the King of Englandwould accept
this Declaration? The answer was noway! A big
war was fought over six years. In the end, the
Americans won thewar and their
freedom
. The
13 colonies became states. Together, the new
states formed the new country called the United
States of America.
United States Constitution
Now that we had a new country, we needed a
new kind of
government
. The leaders of congress worked for fourmonths on a new
plan of government. Thismeetingwas held at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. George
Washington led themeeting. Themen did not agree on some ideas, such as
slavery
. Ben
Franklin helped to solve some of the problems.
Benjamin Franklin, JohnAdams,
and Thomas Jeffersonwith the first
draft of the Declaration of
Independence.
