Was the American Declaration of Independence similar to the English Bill of Rights,
which you read for last week's assignment?  After a close reading and comparison of
both documents, you will find an uncanny series of similarities between the two
documents.  After all, they were both directed at the king of England.  Your assignment
is a comparison assignment, and as part of any comparison, you should also briefly
indicate some contrasts between the two documents.  You are also reading the
Declaration of Independence in the week in which you are studying the Enlightenment
because, in many respects, the Declaration was a clear product of the intellectual
environment that existed in the eighteenth century.  As you consider your paragraph,
you might also want to consider comparing the authorship of both documents.  That
comparison can lead to some interesting insights into the nature of both documents.