When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one nation to sever the political ties which connect it with other nations, and to take that separate and equal place among the powers of the earth to which the laws of nature and nature’s God give them their due, a dignified respect for the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable 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 purposes, it is the right of the people to alter or 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. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established ought not to be altered on light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience has shewed, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, when evils are tolerable, than to correct themselves by abolishing forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long series of abuses and encroachments, constantly tending to the same purpose, shows a design to subject them to absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to overthrow such government, and to appoint new protectors for their future security. – These colonies have patiently endured; and such is now the necessity which obliges them to alter their former system of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated usurpations and encroachments, having as its direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, the facts must be submitted to an honest world.
They have refused to assent to laws which are the most healthful and necessary for the public good.
They have forbidden their governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless their execution be postponed till their assent has been obtained; and when so suspended, they utterly neglect to attend to them.
They have refused to pass other laws for the convenience of the great numbers of the people, unless those people would relinquish their right of representation in the Legislature, a right invaluable to them, and formidable only to tyrants.
They have summoned legislative bodies to places unusual, inconvenient, and remote from the repositories of their public records, for the sole purpose of compelling them to comply with their measures.
He has repeatedly dissolved representative houses, having opposed with manly firmness their invasions upon the rights of the people.
They refused for a long time after such a dissolution to elect others; whereupon the legislative powers, which could not be destroyed, returned to the common people for exercise; meanwhile the state remained open to all dangers of invasion from outside and internal commotion.
They have attempted to check the population of these States; have for this purpose obstructed the laws for the naturalization of foreigners; have refused to encourage others to migrate thither, and have raised the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
He has obstructed the administration of justice by refusing to give his assent to laws establishing judicial powers.
He has made the judges dependent upon his will alone for the term of office, the amount of their salaries, and the payments made to them.
They have established many new offices, and sent hordes of officials here to harass our people and seize their property.
They have kept standing armies amongst us, even in time of peace, without the consent of our legislatures.
He has attempted to make military power independent and superior to civil power.
They have joined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction repugnant to our Constitution, and not recognized by our laws; and have given our assent to the acts of their so-called legislation:
To place large contingents of armed troops amongst us:
To protect the inhabitants of these States, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders they may commit:
To carry on our trade with all parts of the world:
Taxing us without our consent:
To deprive us of the benefit of trial by jury in many cases:
To take us across the ocean to stand trial for false crimes
For abolishing the independent system of English laws in the neighbouring province, establishing an arbitrary government there, and enlarging its boundaries so that it may become an example and a fit instrument for introducing the same despotic rule into these colonies:
To take away our charter, abolish our most valuable laws, and radically alter the form of our governments:
To suspend our own Legislatures, and declare ourselves to have Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated the government here, by declaring us outside his protection, and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our cities and destroyed the lives of our people.
At this moment he is leading a large army of foreign mercenaries to carry on the works of death, destruction, and tyranny, which have already begun, with circumstances of cruelty and treachery not seen even in the most barbarous ages, and wholly unworthy of the head of a civilized nation.
It has compelled our fellow citizens captured at sea to take up arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brothers, or to die at their own hands.
It has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and incited the invasion of our frontier inhabitants, the ruthless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is the uniform destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.
At every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have only been answered by repeated inflictions of injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by every act that may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have we been lagging behind in paying attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of the attempts of their Legislature to extend an undue jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have induced them by the ties of our common kindred to reject these usurpations, which would inevitably disrupt our relations and correspondence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and blood ties. We must, therefore, submit to the necessity which condemns our separation, and regard them, as we regard the rest of mankind, as enemies in war, friends in peace.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in general Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these United Colonies are and ought to be free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is and ought to be totally severed; and that as free and independent States, they have full power to wage war, conclude peace, enter into alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, placing a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
Signed,
Georgia
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
North Carolina
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
arthur middleton
Massachusetts
john hancock
Maryland
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
benjamin harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
carter braxton
Pennsylvania
robert morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
james smith
George Taylor
james wilson
George Ross
Delaware
Caesar Rodney
George Reid
Thomas McKeown
New York
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
new Jersey
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clarke
new Hampshire
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island
stephen hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
new Hampshire
Matthew Thornton
