GED Social Studies: Declaration of Independence
Hey, everyone! The GED social studies test has questions on it from important documents in American history. That means, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and major Supreme Court cases. Now, I don’t know about you, but all that stuff is hard to get! But I figured out that it’s not really that hard to understand the ideas…just the language is hard. Here’s an example: The Declaration of Independence. That was written when the American colonies wanted to make their own country…the U.S.
The Declaration of Independence isn’t part of the U.S. laws, like the Constitution, but it’s important because it gives the ideas of the people that started our country. Maybe this sounds familiar: “We hold these Truths to be self evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these rights are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” That’s a really famous quote from the Declaration of Independence. And you might have a GED test question like this:
From the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these Truths to be self evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these rights are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Which of the following ideas in the U.S. Constitution stems from the “unalienable Rights” mentioned in the Declaration of Independence?
A) All legislative powers are given to Congress
B) The President delivers to Congress a State of the Union
C) Levying war against the United States is an act of treason
D) Congress can make no law against the freedom of speech or the press.
Which thing in the constitution goes back to the “unalienable Rights”? What’s unalienable mean, anyway, and what is all this stuff in the constitution? To really understand this question, I figure the first thing I need to understand is the passage from the Declaration of Independence:
We hold these Truths to be self evident,
That means, “The things we’re about to say are true, and they’re obvious.” They’re talking about basic, fundamental truths that can’t change.
that all Men are created equal,
Well, okay…so the first truth is that all people are “equal.” That doesn’t mean the same…we’re not all the same. So what does it mean to be equal? It means, we have equal rights to be heard, to say what we think, to vote, all that good stuff.
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
The second truth is that everyone has rights…like, what people talk about as human rights. “unalienable…” that’s a mouthful. But it just means, rights no one can take away.
that among these rights are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
And here’s what the rights are…not all of them, because it says “among these rights.” That means there’s more than what’s listed here. The right to life, freedom, and the right to go after what will make you happy. In other words, the right to do what you want.
So, okay, I get what it’s saying. People all should be treated the same, and they shouldn’t be denied life, freedom, the ability to do what will make them happy. Most of the answers don’t have anything to do with those things. The only one that seems to is the freedom of speech and of the press…the ability to say what you want, and the ability to write what you want in the paper.
Do you see how that connects? The “unalienable Right to Liberty” includes freedom of speech. Answer D.
I’ll have more about important documents that are on the GED in the future! Good GED studying! Oh, and here’s some links to learn more about the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document/index.htm
http://www.usconstitution.net/choose.html
For more information about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at http://www.passged.com.
