Comparison Paper
Isabella Thacker
GOV 200
Professor Klause
The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Thomas Jeffeson’s letter to the
Danbury Baptists all helped establish our system of government today. The first document
written was the Declaration of Independence in 1776. This is important because the Declaration
of Independence helped establish our independence from Great Britain. This document was
basically a “history of repeated injuries” (Declaration of Independence,1776) and grievances of
the king over the states at the time. The states had formed an alliance against the king to stop an
“establishment of absolute tyranny” (Declaration of Independence, 1776). This document helped
to establish a country and a union of the states. Without this document there would be no
Constitution.
The Constitution established a system of governing the states as a whole in 1787. The purpose
of the Constitution was to “form a more perfect union, establish justice and ensure domestic
tranquility” (U.S Constitution, 1787). The constitution sets up a separation of powers between
the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government. This was so no one branch could
