Throughout U.S. history, oppressed and disenfranchised groups (women, African Americans, farmers, workers, indigenous peoples, and more) have set forth their declarations of independence.

Modelled after the original Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, each document presents a vision for achieving full rights, freedoms, and liberties as members of American democracy. 

Imagine that these groups had access to modern social media platforms. How would they have utilized social media to express their ideas and gain support for their Declarations of Independence?

Activity 1: Design a Social Media Campaign for a Declaration of Independence

• Choose either the original Declaration of Independence or one of the those written by other groups.
• Identify the grievances and discriminations faced by the writers of the declaration as well as their goals and hopes for a fairer, more just society.
• Design a social media campaign to build support for the document. The social media campaign should include at least 2 videos (e.g., YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok), 5 example posts, and 3 images (e.g., memes, graphics, infographics) designed by you. 
  • As you design your campaign, consider the following:
    • What visuals and language will you use to highlight key ideas from the declaration?
    • Which social media platforms will you use?
    • What will you write in your posts to capture attention and inspire action?
    • How will you use media (e.g., images, videos, audio) to make a convincing argument?
• *Here is a social media campaign example created by Justin Lo, Daniel Mulno, and David Warde and here is a Twitter campaign example by Sara Shea. 

Activity 2: Design a Modern-Day Declaration of Independence

• Create a modern-day Declaration of Independence (on TikTok or Snapchat, rather than as a document) for any group you think needs one to achieve freedom and justice in today's society.

Additional Resources

• The Declaration of Independence in Modern English
• Declaration of Digital Independence
• A Call to Arms: The Social Media Declaration of Independence
• The Declaration of Independence was Published without Social Media