The most significant event that shaped America into the nation that it is today would have to be, in my opinion, The Revolutionary War and the Declaration of Independence. “By the spring of 1775, tension between the colonies and England was at the breaking point. In each of the colonies extra-legal committees and assemblies organized resistance to the Intolerable Acts, while in England, Parliament and the king’s ministers prepared to crush the colonial rebellion. The outbreak of fighting at Lexington and Concord transformed the imperial crisis. No longer was it limited to a struggle over competing theories of Parliamentary authority and colonial rights, for now the firing had commenced and men on both sides lay dying. Within little more than a year of that fateful event, England’s empire was severed.” (The American People, Chapter 6, pg. 137) 
The colonists had finally had enough; General Gage had been sent from London to arrest colonists that were considered rebels, England had started seizing American ships, and Parliament had passed the Intolerable Acts. These acts were only part of what started the Revolutionary War. “In May 1775, the Second Continental Congress assembled (delegates included; John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin)…..Over succeeding weeks, it issued a “Declaration of Causes of Taking-up Arms,” sent the king an “Olive Branch Petition” humbly begging him to remove the obstacles to reconciliation….Such hopes finally crumbled at the end of 1775 when news arrived that the king, rejecting the “Olive Branch Petition” and proclaiming the colonies in “open and avowed rebellion,” had dispatched 20,000 additional British troops to quell the insurrection.” (The American People, Chapter 6, pg. 137) “In June of 1775, Congress ordered a committee chaired by Thomas Jefferson to begin drafting what became known as the Declaration of Independence.” (The American People, Chapter 6, pg. 138) 
If our founding fathers had not fought for what they thought were the rights of the colonists in America, our country might still be under the control of the British government. A lot of the privileges we have today we probably wouldn’t have. “In the Declaration the foundation of the United States is indissolubly associated with a theory of politics, a philosophy of human rights which is valid, if at all, not for Americans only, but for all men.” (Changing Interpretations, Source 14, pg. 159) 
Our government has come a long way since the eighteenth century, but the Declaration of Independence has not changed. Our government is not perfect and most likely never will be, but compared to other governments we have it pretty good. We have rights and privileges that other countries do not, like, we are able to own guns, we are able to elect our government officials. We have the freedom of speech, we can actually voice our opinions and vote on who we want representing us in the government, we can also vote on laws and taxes. These freedoms and others given to us by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution is why I don’t move to another country. Ireland is beautiful, but it I would lose the freedoms I have right here in the United States. 
Our founding fathers created one of the most powerful documents in the Declaration of Independence and I am so grateful that they fought for our freedom from the British. We will always have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.