English 33

RI:9 Analyze seventeenth-, eighteenth-, and nineteenth-century foundational
U.S. documents of historical and literary significance (including The
Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, the Bill of
Rights, and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address) for their themes, purposes,
and rhetorical features.

The point of the Declaration of Independence was to say why the colonies were leaving England; to say what justification they had to essentially commit what was seen as treason, and explain why it wasn't treason. The Declaration of Independence basically said that the government has certain responsibilities to those being governed, and that the British government was not adhering to its responsibilities to its citizens in the colonies. So the colonists had the right to leave and form a government that would adhere to its responsibilities.