Abstract
In the 18th century, the ideas of modernity were spreading all around Europe, while at the same time a revolt is organized against the despotic control exercised by Georges III, the King of England in the British colonies of the New World. This rebellion resulted in the Declaration of Independence of 1776. This is the culmination of the quest for independence of the thirteen colonies. This document and the revolution that accompanies it are unique to this time, and are major elements in the construction of modernity. It is not colonized people in revolt against the colonizers, but settlers themselves who proclaim their independence from the state they have always depended on. These are colonies which are separated from the motherland.
