American Ideals

What are Ideals?


What does it mean to be an American?

Vocabulary

Ideal	an idea or standard of perfection or excellence
Declaration	a document that contains an official statement
Independence	freedom from outside control or support
Independence	the time when a country or region gains political freedom from outside control
National Anthem	a song that praises a particular country and that is officially accepted as the country's song

The Declaration of Independence

What is the Declaration of Independence?

Why is it important?

The Declaration of Independence

Here is the beginning of the Declaration of Independence:

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.
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