DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

hen 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.

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 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. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable 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 conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

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 Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right 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 dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract 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, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, 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 York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer,James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

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

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

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Declaration Of Independence Day For Kids By Chuck Baldwin

This column is archived at
http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/home/?p=1845


This past week, my son and constitutional attorney, Tim Baldwin, wrote the
following and then delivered it to his elementary age Bible class at our
church. It tells the story of our brave forebears' struggle for freedom and
independence in a way that even children can comprehend. Oh! By the way, the
class stood up and clapped after Tim delivered this address. I offer Tim's
lesson to my reading audience with the prospect that many of you may want to
read this story to your children or grandchildren this weekend, as we
celebrate our nation's independence.

A long time ago, or not so long ago, depending on how you look at it, men,
women and children set sail across the Atlantic Ocean in the 1600s to
establish their own communities and to raise their families in a country
that was inhabited only by Indian tribes and wild animals. By the thousands,
they risked their lives by traveling across a vast ocean of rough seas,
stormy nights and nauseating waves so they could build their homes in a
place called America. Many of them died on their way here, and even more of
them died after having reached the shores of the Atlantic coast. Still, with
all of the elements of nature against them, including disease, harsh winters
and some of the Indians who were very hostile towards them, they were able
to build homes, churches and a form of government so that they could live a
life pleasing to themselves, their families and their God.

During the 1600s and 1700s, more and more people came from mostly the
European countries. There were people who came to America under the
authority of the king of Great Britain to establish a colony. A colony is a
territory of land that is founded by a people on behalf of their government,
even though the government was not anywhere close to that territory of land.
Eventually, thirteen colonies were established in America, all of them in
the Eastern territories of America. The most northern colony was New
Hampshire and the most southern colony was Georgia. When each colony was
founded, the people of those colonies formed constitutions so that the
people of each colony could enjoy a free society and a free government.

These people had to work extremely hard to make a good life for themselves.
It has been described by people who first settled these areas that the trees
were so vast and many that a squirrel could travel from New Hampshire to
Georgia through trees and never have to touch the ground. Think of the
amount of work it took to clear out the land, build their homes and make
their food. To live in America was no easy task. It took determination, and
no one here could be lazy. You would die if you were.

As the years passed, the people in America became very self-sufficient,
relying upon their own hard work and labor to meet their needs. They thanked
God for the way He provided for them and all of them celebrated Thanksgiving
Day just as their forefathers, the Pilgrims, did, because they knew that God
had blessed them with a great country, with great people and great land to
live on. With the ability to take care of themselves, to provide for their
families, to run their own businesses and to have their own government,
there was a spirit of liberty and freedom in those colonies.

However, over time, it became apparent to everyone, including the king of
Great Britain and the Parliament of Great Britain, that the resources of
America were too valuable not to benefit from. So, Great Britain began
passing and executing laws that took advantage of the labor, agriculture and
industry of the American colonists. Even though Great Britain had very
little to do with the American way of life, their business and the people
there, they enjoyed taxing the colonists so that they could get money from
them and spend that money for the benefit of Great Britain.

The American colonists at first did not mind the laws that Great Britain
passed to tax and regulate them. They saw Great Britain as their mother
country and they gave loyalty to the king and parliament. They saw their
authority as complying with the British Constitution, which had existed
there throughout hundreds of years of their history. Great Britain had a
king to execute the laws, which would be similar to a President; it had a
Parliament to create laws, which would be similar to our Congress; and it
had judges, to apply the laws to individual cases, just as our courts do
today. The American colonists were very proud to be loyal to Great Britain,
because it was considered to be the greatest country in the world, with the
greatest form of government.

But that feeling did not last forever. What began happening was Great
Britain started using the American colonies and colonists as a way to obtain
more money and wealth for themselves. Finally, they passed a law called the
Stamp Act in 1765. This Stamp Act was designed to tax the internal
commercial activities of the colonies. Before the Stamp Act, Great Britain
taxed only the external commerce of the colonies, that is, where the
colonies shipped goods from America to other countries. But now, the Stamp
Act taxed goods and products that were made in America and sold in America.
This was the first time that Great Britain had tried to interfere with the
internal affairs of the American colonies.

To some in America, the Stamp Act was unacceptable, and they would not stand
for it. The colonial governments, which had been handling the affairs of
their own colonies, began sending to Great Britain their letters of
dissatisfaction, requesting that the king repeal this law. These colonists
cried out, "No taxation without representation!" See, the American colonies
were not involved in the way government operated and what laws passed in
Great Britain, because that was across the ocean and they had no
representatives in parliament to make sure their interests and their will
was expressed and made part of the decision making process. The resistance
became so heavy that the king and parliament decided to repeal the Stamp
Act. The colonists celebrated as they found out. They had parties, music and
gatherings all over to express their joy for what they had accomplished.

However, their celebration was soon to end. See, Great Britain repealed the
Stamp Act, but they still declared that they could regulate and tax the
colonies at any time they wanted, even though the colonists did not have any
representatives in Great Britain. Thus, it is no wonder that the conflict
between Great Britain and the colonies would soon arise again, and indeed it
did arise again.

Not too long after Great Britain repealed the Stamp Act, Great Britain
passed another law that taxed the America colonies, just as they did before.
Great Britain declared to the colonies that their laws were the supreme law
of the land and that they were constitutional. To resist these laws was
treason and worthy of extreme punishment. The colonists had mixed feelings
about what was going on before them. Some thought that Great Britain had the
constitutional right to regulate them because the constitution allowed them
to do so. Others did not care one way or the other. However, there were
others in America who believed that their natural rights from God allowed
them to govern themselves based upon their own consent and not upon the will
of some ruler who did not have their interests in mind. These people were
called Patriots.

In 1775, the intensity was becoming more and more heavy. Each colony was
trying to figure out what to do. Some suggested that they send more letters
to Great Britain, expressing their loyalty to the king and to the
constitution, just hoping that the king and parliament would listen to their
complaints and would grant them relief. But others were not so hopeful. One
man in particular believed that action was required and that mere words were
a waste of time. He believed that the time for taking up arms in defense of
their liberty was required, and that the king should know that they were
free people and would not stand to be trodden under the foot of the king.
This man was Patrick Henry.

The story goes that Patrick Henry delivered a speech that was so moving and
so full of wisdom and inspiration that he convinced the colony of Virginia
to do just what he said they should do: prepare for war! And that they did.
Now keep in mind, the colonists did not start a war, but they were preparing
for a war that Great Britain was launching against them. During this time,
Great Britain had sent soldiers to the colonies to make sure that the
colonists behaved and followed the laws passed by Great Britain. Patrick
Henry knew that those soldiers were not there to play games but to enforce
Great Britain's rule, and if necessary, kill those who refused.

A year of struggle between the colonists and Great Britain took place, but
the one incident that cemented in the minds of the people that they must
break away from their government was when Great Britain's soldiers tried to
disarm the people by taking away their guns and ammunition. During that
effort, some people died as the American colonists tried to defend what was
rightfully theirs. In the colonists' minds, like Patrick Henry, there was no
way that Great Britain and America could ever be reconciled with each other.
America must be free from them, for as Patrick Henry said in his famous
speech to take up arms in their defense, "Give me Liberty or give me death."

So, on July 4, 1776, after representatives were sent from each colony to
meet at a convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, each colony declared its
independence from Great Britain and America was born as a nation to stand
above all other nations. It was the place that God used to spread the gospel
of Jesus Christ to the rest of the world. It was the place where men and
women sacrificed their lives, fortunes and sacred honor, so that you and I
could have a legacy of freedom.