The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. What was the document's main purpose?

The Declaration says people are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Where do those rights come from, in that line?

In that same sentence the Declaration calls those rights "unalienable." What does unalienable mean there?

The Declaration states that governments are "deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." Where does a government get its rightful power, according to that line?

Congress chose a committee of five delegates to prepare the Declaration, and that committee asked one of its members to write the first draft. Who wrote that draft?

Besides Thomas Jefferson, who served on the committee that prepared the Declaration of Independence?

In which year did the Continental Congress adopt the Declaration of Independence?

Which body voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence?

One line of the Declaration reads "The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations." What does the long middle section that this line introduces contain?

One grievance in the Declaration reads "For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent." What were the colonists objecting to?

Another grievance in the Declaration reads "For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us." What did that complaint describe?

The Declaration says that when a government destroys people's rights, "it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." What does that line say people may do?

The Declaration closes by stating "That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States." What was that closing announcing?

The Declaration says "a decent respect to the opinions of mankind" required the colonists to explain their reasons. Who was the document meant to be read by?

Fighting between colonial militia and British troops had already begun more than a year before the Declaration was adopted. Which event started that fighting?

Which document created Congress, the presidency and the federal courts?

The Declaration states that "all men are created equal." When it was adopted in 1776, where was the enslavement of African people still legal?

The Continental Congress was meeting in Philadelphia when it adopted the Declaration of Independence.

The Declaration of Independence ended the enslavement of African people in the thirteen states.

The Declaration of Independence is a primary source for studying why the colonies declared independence.