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30 The Declaration of Independence: Forming a New Nation

The rebellion by the Dutch against Prince Philip is notable because in 1581 leaders of the revolution wrote their own declaration of independence. The Dutch declaration is believed to be

Make Connections Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826—the 50th anniver- sary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

the first time in history that an oppressed people set down in writing their rights and grievances as well as their intentions to break away from a tyrant. The Dutch declaration bears some similarity to the document writ- ten by Jefferson. For example, Jefferson said, “A Prince, whose charac- ter is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” He was, of course, talking about King George, but the Dutch had similar words about Prince Philip. Their declaration said: A prince is constituted by God to be ruler of a people, to defend them from oppression and violence as the shepherd his sheep. . . . And when he does not behave thus, but, on the contrary, oppresses them, seeking opportunities to infringe their ancient customs and privileges, exacting from them slavish compliance, then he is no longer a prince, but a tyrant, and the subjects are to consider him in no other view. The major difference between the American and Dutch declarations, though, is that the American decla-