Declaration by the Representatives of the united States of America in General Congress assembled: “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.
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 [and Women], 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.”
A curious aspect is that we celebrate Independence Day on July 4th -- in effect, a time at which we are celebrating our divorce and/or separation from England. As a nation, however, the Articles of Confederation (written in 1776-77 and ratified March 1, 1781) and its replacement, the Constitution of 1787 (which took effect March 4, 1789), is more appropriately the day of celebration for consolidation of a united group of States. Another interesting aspect is that the same Declaration could be reinstated today, with the people from which we are separating being the current American governmental despotism. The difficulty, however, is that Signers of the Declaration of Independence did not fare well in the mundane scheme of things, while any future signers would be taken considerable risk themselves. Perhaps it makes more sense to follow the precepts of acquiring Liberty laid out and summarized by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. In other words, quit supporting the current ideological structure from which despotism springs! Even more intriguing is the Declaration of Independence given above, and considered by most as the fundamental document, is in fact more of an executive summary of the Original Declaration of Independence. The latter is highly instructive, even if the version given above does benefit from a lack of the typical divorce legalese of modern times.
Justice Liberty Justice, Order, and Law
State of the Union
Forward to:
Signers of the Declaration of Independence
Original Declaration of Independence
Constitution of the United States of America
