Rhetorical Analysis: The Declaration of Independence. Our Declaration of Independence was written notably by Thomas Jefferson in response to the atrocities committed by the British Crown against the citizens of the American colonies. At the time of writing the Declaration, Jefferson was widely known to be a successful legal practitioner as an attorney and an eloquent writer. It is for this reason that, although Jefferson was a member of a five-man committee tasked with drafting the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was chosen to be its principal author. After enduring “a long series of abuses and usurpations,” the colonists decided to declare themselves free from British rule (paragraph 2). Jefferson writes that in view of their “unalienable rights…”. . . “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, “this is the right of the people”. . . establish a new government”, one which will represent them fairly, to restore order (paragraph 2). The Declaration of Independence does not seek to convince or even encourage action; rather, it aims to declare. There is no doubt about Jefferson's words. The colonists grew tired of the mistreatment and effectively broke all “allegiance to the British Crown, and…”. . . political connection” (paragraph 23). The audience of The Declaration of Independence, the world, is specifically addressed twice. The first opening paragraph provides the context of the Declaration. He continues by listing the king's offenses. Jefferson assures his audience that for every offense committed by the king, the colonists presented one or more solutions, only to then dismiss them. Their last resort after the failure of negotiations is to declare themselves a free people. Jefferson was explicit in his Declaration of Independence that the colonists were not asking to be "totally dissolved" from the union with the British Crown, they had already decided and were well on their way to building a new