Declaration of Independence

When a major step in politics or another big topic is taken, people try to manipulate people into thinking different things.  They will try to persuade you into believing something that may or may not be true.  People use propaganda techniques and faulty logic to get the response they want.  This right here can be seen in documents, like in the Declaration of Independence. 

First off, I would like to define propaganda for those who do not know what it means. Propaganda is "information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc" (Propaganda).  Now that everyone knows what propaganda is, I can go over what propaganda techniques are and some examples.  Propaganda techniques are approaches used to spread ideas and information to back up a political, religious, civil, or commercial cause.  Some examples of this technique are name calling, transfer, bandwagon, plain folks, card stacking, etc. ()  Along with propaganda techniques, there is also the occurrence of faulty logic.  When using faulty logic, people say things that are not necessarily true to get a wanted response from the person they are trying to persuade.  

The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson and contains some propaganda and faulty logic.  One example of a propaganda technique is name calling.  This technique is probably the most common of all techniques.  Name calling consists of attaching a negative label to someone or something to make them seem less qualified than you are.  "A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a TYRANT is unfit to be ruler of free people" (Jefferson 124).  In this sentence, Jefferson is referring to the King as being a tyrant.  In my opinion, he is being a wee bit immature by calling the King names.  I don't actually know if the King was actually a tyrant, but from this document, people believe that he is. 

Another example of propaganda that I saw in the Declaration of Independence was the use of opinions as facts.  Those two words together is an oxymoron.  Opinions are what a person thinks in his or her own mind while facts can be proven.  "Such has been the patient suffering of the colonies" (Jefferson 122).  In this line, Jefferson is telling us about how the colonies suffered because of the King and soldiers.  While that piece of information is true, the colonists were mistreated, but the way he worded it made it an opinion.  "Patient suffering" is the part that makes it an opinion because I do not think that the British though the colonists were patient when the war started.  How could anyone be patient in a war?  

The last occurrence of a propaganda technique in the Declaration of Independence is called Glittering Generalities.  It is funny to think that using propaganda isn't always looked highly upon and they use "glittering generalities" as one of the names.  Glittering Generalities uses "glad words" like good, honest, fair, best, etc to make their argument seem more positive and look like the better choice.  An example I found in the excerpt is, "In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms" (Jefferson 124).  The "glad word" in this reference is humble.  This word makes the argument seem better for Thomas Jefferson than whoever his opponent is.  

All in all, even though Thomas Jefferson included propaganda techniques, the Declaration of Independence is essential to the way the United States works today.  We, as the people of the United States, are free because of this document. 

"Propaganda." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2012. 


"Recognizing Propaganda Techniquesand Errors of Faulty Logic." Recognizing Propaganda--Guide to Critical Thinking--Academic Support. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Sept. 2012. 


Wilhelm, Jeffrey D., Douglas Fisher, Beverly Ann. Chin, and Jacqueline Jones. Royster. "The Declaration of Independence." Glencoe Literature. New York: Glencoe McGraw-Hill, 2009. 120-24. Print.