Page:Goddard broadside.jpg



, in the Coure of human Events, it becomes neceary for one People to diolve the Political Bonds which have connected them with another, and to aume, among the Powers of the Earth, the eparate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's GOD entitle them, a decent Repect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they hould declare the Caues which impel them to the Separation.

hold tee Truths to be elf-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their with certain unalienable Rights, that among thee are Life, Liberty, and the puruit of Happine—That to ecure thee Rights, Governments are intituted among Men, deriving their jut Powers from the Conent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes detructive of thee Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolih it, and to intitute a new Government, laying its Foundation on uch Principles, and organizing its Powers in uch Form, as to them hall eem mot likely to effect their Safety and Happine. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long etablihed hould not be changed for light and tranient Caues; and accordingly all Experience hath hewn, that Mankind are more dipoed to uffer, while Evils are ufferable, than to right themelves by abolihing the Forms to which they are accutomed. But when a long Train of Abues and Uurpations, puruing invariably the ame Object, evinces a Deign to reduce them under abolute Depotim, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off uch Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of thee Colonies; and uch is now the Neceity which contrains them to alter their former Sytems of Government. The Hitory of the Preent King of Great-Britain is a Hitory of repeated Injuries and Uurpations, all having in direct Object the Etablihment of an abolute Tyranny over thee States. To prove this, let Facts be ubmitted to a candid World.

has refued his Aent to Laws, the mot wholeome and neceary for the public Good.

has forbidden his Governors to pa Laws of immediate and preing Importance, unle uspended in their Operation till his Aent hould be obtained; and when o uspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

has refued to pa other Laws for the Accommodation of large Ditricts of People; unle thoe People would relinquih the Right of Repreentation in the Legilature, a Right inetimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.

has called together Legilative Bodies at Places unuual, uncomfortable, and ditant from the Depoitory of their public Records, for the ole Purpoe of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Meaures.

has diolved Repreentative Houes repeatedly, for oppoing with manly Firmne his Invaions on the Rights of the People.

has refued for a long Time, after uch Diolutions, to caue others to be elected; whereby the Legilative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercie; the State remaining in the mean time expoed to all the Dangers of Invaion from without, and Convulions within.

has endeavoured to prevent the Population of thee States; for that Purpoe obtructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refuing to pa others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raiing the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

has obtructed the Adminitration of Jutice, by refuing his Aent to Laws for etablihing Judiciary Powers.

has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and Amount and Payment of their Salaries.

has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and ent hither Swarms of Officers to hara our People, and eat out their Subtance.

has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the conent of our Legilature.

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

has combined with others to ubject us to a Juridiction foreign to our Contitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Aent to their Acts of pretended Legilation:

quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us:

protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punihment for any Murders which they hould commit on the Inhabitants of thee States:

cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:

impoing taxes on us without our Conent:

depriving us, in many Caes, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:

tranporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:

abolihing the free Sytem of Englih Laws in a neighbouring Province, etablihing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, o as to render it at once an Example and fit Intrument for introducing the ame abolute Rule in thee Colonies:

taking away our Charters, abolihing our mot valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

uspending our own Legilatures, and declaring themelves inveted with Powers to legilate for us in all Caes whatoever.

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

has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coats, burnt our Towns, and detroyed the Lives of our People.

is, at this Time, tranporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the Works of Death, Deolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumtances of Cruelty and Perfidy, carcely paralleled in the mot barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.

has contrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms againt their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themelves by their Hands.

has excited dometic Inurrections among us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the mercile Indian Savages, whoe known Rule of Warfare, is an unditinguihed Detruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.

every tage of thee Oppreions we have Petitioned for Redre in the mot humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been anwered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whoe Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.

have we been wanting in Attentions to our Britih Brethren. We have warned them from Time to Time of Attempts by their Legilature to extend an unwarrantable Juridiction over us. We have reminded them of the Circumtances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have appealed to their native Jutice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to diavow thee Uurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our Connections and Correpondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Jutice and of Conanguinity. We mut, therefore, acquiece in the Neceity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the ret of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.

, therefore, the Repreentatives of the UNITED STATES AMERICA, in GENERAL CONGRESS, Aembled, 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 thee Colonies, olemnly Publih and Declare, That thee United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE  INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are abolved from all Allegiance to the Britih Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally diolved; and that as FREE  INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, etablih 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 the DIVINE PROVIDENCE, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our acred Honour.

an authenticated Copy of the, with the Names of the MEMBERS of CONGRESS, ubribing the ame, be ent to each of the UNITED STATES, and that they be deired to have teh ame put on RECORD.