A good understanding of the audience of the Declaration of Independence begins with the simple recognition that prior to the American Revolution the colonists considered themselves British citizens. They were aware of their subordinate status to Great Britain, but for the most part, they were not oppressed by the British government. The colonists supported England in the French and Indian War.

By the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, the British government had incurred tremendous expenses fighting their European enemies. Waging war with France in both Europe and the Americas and attempting to counter the expansion of Spain into the New World had proved financially devastating to Great Britain. To King George III, the American colonies were a ripe source for raising money to help pay England’s debts. Imposing increased taxes on English colonists became the catalyst for revolution.

The British insisted that the American colonies were too distant from England to be permitted representatives in Parliament. The colonists believed taxation without representation amounted to tyranny, and in 1775 a revolt broke out over the issue of continued oppression of the English colonists through Parliamentary Acts designed to tighten the hold over the colonists. Not all English colonists favored a revolution, since they believed themselves to be true Englishmen loyal to the Crown. However, early in 1776, Thomas Paine published Common Sense, which proved to have a powerful influence over the colonists and persuaded many of them to join the cause of revolution.

The rebelling Americans turned to Thomas Jefferson to draft a document formally severing ties with Great Britain. The document begins,

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

This Declaration of Independence served three major purposes. First, it was necessary to demonstrate justification for the rebellion. To this end, the primary audience for the Declaration was Great Britain itself:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

This paragraph constituted the formal dissolution with England and put King George on notice of the commitment to a new, independent government.

The second audience of the Declaration consisted of the American colonists. The justification for revolution was necessary to unite the colonists around the idea of a new government that would function by the consent of the people in their quest for life without oppression and with liberty and happiness.

A third major reason for the Declaration was to attract the attention of the long-time enemies of Great Britain, especially France and Spain. Jefferson knew the chances of defeating the powerful British army were slim and drafted the Declaration with the intention of securing the support of foreign nations in the American cause.

The British, of course, were not moved by Jefferson’s outline of abuses, and the Revolutionary War expanded until the Americans were victorious. The colonists were, indeed, too far away from Great Britain to be controlled. They had learned different ways of fighting in the wilderness from Native Americans, and intervention by several European nations brought the conflict to an end. The Declaration of Independence had been successfully delivered to the proper audiences.

I would note that a document such as the Declaration of Independence does not have a single audience at which it was aimed, but rather was aimed at multiple audiences, interacting with them on multiple levels.

At its core, we should note that the Declaration of Independence was a political document, declaring the intention on the part of the colonies to assert their independence and providing a defense for that decision. In this alone, it targeted at least two separate audiences: on the one hand, it would have targeted those colonists who had not yet been convinced by the cause of independence, by advocating for the Revolution's necessity. At the same time, it would also have been aimed at the governments of Europe, advocating for the Revolution as a legitimate political action. From this perspective, the goal would have been to try to build support for the Revolution abroad.

To this, we must also note that the Declaration of Independence provided intellectual coherency to the cause of the Revolution itself, along with a justification for it. From this perspective, its impact would have also extended to the Revolution's own adherents, so as to further strengthen their own pro-revolutionary convictions.

To conclude, the Declaration of Independence would have a variety of functions, for a variety of different audiences.

Who was the audience for the Declaration of Independence?

One audience for the Declaration of Independence was the American colonists. In the document, Jefferson lays out the argument for forming a new nation. He lists the goals of the new government—this will be a government that will safeguard the people's natural rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If the new government does not provide these, Jefferson implies that the people have a right to further revolutions in order to establish a responsive government. Jefferson then goes on to list the abuses of Parliament against the natural rights of the colonists.

Another audience for the Declaration of Independence was the British government, namely Parliament. A major part of the document lists the criticisms and abuses against American rights. Jefferson placed this portion in the Declaration of Independence in order to demonstrate that the colonists had legitimate grievances against the government and that they did not undertake revolution lightly. Jefferson clearly states the goals for the revolution—a government to ensure life, liberty, and property. To him and other Patriots, Parliament did not safeguard these freedoms, so the colonists thus had a right to rebel.

Another audience that Jefferson did not intend was oppressed people all over the world. Many in the developing world, such as Ho Chi Minh, have used the Declaration of Independence as a template to state their goals clearly in order to create a new nation.

When Jefferson wrote his words, he was mainly speaking to white male colonists living in the American colonies. The American Revolution had already been happening for over a year when the Declaration of Independence was written. Jefferson clearly stated the goals of the Revolution in order to focus the Patriot cause. He also placed some of the responsibility for the current bloodshed on Parliament by stating their abuses. Jefferson's words continue to be used by oppressed people all over the world in their attempts to create responsive governments.

The primary audience for the Declaration of Independence was the American colonists. This document was written to tell the nation that they were rebelling against the British, essentially imploring the people of the colony to come together and join the cause. The Declaration laid out the rights the nation valued and the reasons they would choose to separate from the British government.

It was also, in that sense, aimed at the British government at the same time. This document was designed to alert the British that they were no longer their colony and that Americans would actively oppose them in the new nation. Because of this, the war started, and the Declaration galvanized the Patriots in the nation to rebel as a unit. The immediate impact was that it angered the British and encouraged them to attack, but at the same time, it prepared the Americans for that eventuality. The colonists stopped paying their taxes and began organizing their able-bodied men to prepare for battle.

There were several audiences for the Declaration of Independence. Some audiences were intended, while some audiences, as it turned out, were unintended.

Clearly, the Declaration of Independence was aimed at the colonists. We needed to make our people aware that we had declared independence from Great Britain. They needed to know we were no longer loyal to Great Britain or being governed by them. They also needed to know that we likely would be fighting Great Britain for our independence. Finally, the Declaration of Independence let the colonists know that there are some rights that all people have.

The Declaration of Independence was also aimed at the British. They needed to know that we had declared our independence from them. They also needed to know why we did this. The Declaration of Independence let the British know that we wouldn’t be following their rules and regulations any longer.

The Declaration of Independence was also aimed at other countries. We needed to let other countries like Spain and France know that they should deal directly with us since we believed we no longer were under British control. These countries needed to know they could make deals with us and conduct other business with us.

There were some unintended audiences that the writers of the Declaration of Independence probably never thought they would have. Our Declaration of Independence served as a model for other countries that were having a revolution against their government. Countries like France and Vietnam used our Declaration of Independence as a model for their fight for freedom. Many Latin American countries also modeled their revolution after our revolution. They used our Declaration of Independence as a model. When Texas became independent from Mexican rule, the Texas Declaration of Independence was very similar to our Declaration of Independence.

There were many groups at which the Declaration of Independence was aimed. While the Declaration of Independence was clearly aimed at certain groups, it also impacted other groups that the writers probably didn’t have in mind at the time they wrote the document.