Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
What happens when a government ignores its own laws?
In Grievance 2 of the Declaration of Independence, the colonists call out King George III for refusing to approve important colonial laws and then completely neglecting them. As Dr. Susan Brynne Long explains, this wasn’t just frustrating, it made it nearly impossible for colonial governments to function.
At the core of this grievance is a bigger idea: government exists to serve the people. Influenced by Enlightenment thinking, the colonists believed that when a government stops doing its job, the people have a responsibility to respond.
This wasn’t a one-time complaint either. Thomas Jefferson raised the same issue years earlier, showing just how long this problem had been building and why it became a breaking point in 1776.
This is Part 2 of our 27-part series breaking down every grievance in the Declaration of Independence, leading up to Independence Day.
Follow along and explore more:
billofrightsinstitute.org/constitution-day
#DeclarationOfIndependence #Grievance2 #AmericanRevolution #Civics #USHistory #ThomasJefferson #ConstitutionDay
What happens when a government ignores its own laws?
In Grievance 2 of the Declaration of Independence, the colonists call out King George III for refusing to approve important colonial laws and then completely neglecting them. As Dr. Susan Brynne Long explains, this wasn’t just frustrating, it made it nearly impossible for colonial governments to function.
At the core of this grievance is a bigger idea: government exists to serve the people. Influenced by Enlightenment thinking, the colonists believed that when a government stops doing its job, the people have a responsibility to respond.
This wasn’t a one-time complaint either. Thomas Jefferson raised the same issue years earlier, showing just how long this problem had been building and why it became a breaking point in 1776.
This is Part 2 of our 27-part series breaking down every grievance in the Declaration of Independence, leading up to Independence Day.
Follow along and explore more:
billofrightsinstitute.org/constitution-day
#DeclarationOfIndependence #Grievance2 #AmericanRevolution #Civics #USHistory #ThomasJefferson #ConstitutionDay
