The Declaration of Independence...by CELEBRITIES!

We've been talking about the Declaration of Independence (DOI) in both U.S. History and World History.  We've talked about how Thomas Jefferson was influenced by thinkers from the Enlightenment period.  There is a good video of the reading of the DOI by some of today's best known actors and actresses (including Mel Gibson, Morgan Freeman, and Renee Zellweger) and I'm going to post it here.

Take note of how John Locke's idea of the social contract is evident in the DOI and his idea that if a government breaks their end of the contract (i.e. fails to protect the people's rights) the people have the right to rebel.  Much of the DOI (and as a result, the video)  is a list of King George's abuses.  Because of that, Jefferson says, we declare ourselves to be free and independent.