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The Declaration of Independence - A gift of freedomThe Declaration of Independence is one of the greatest documents in human history, and you have the privilege of enjoying its benefits every day of your life. Does that seem like a strong statement? The Declaration of Independence is one of the most prominent efforts by human beings to stand up in the face of tyranny and proclaim that every human being has God given rights to be free, to be protected and to pursue their lives the way they want to. Before the Declaration,
most human beings lived under kings or dictatorships of one form or
another. The men who signed the Declaration of Independence said,
“Enough!” And changed the whole world.
 Did
you know that you are a direct beneficiary of the Declaration of
Independence? You may have never considered it, but the Founding
Fathers of the United States have given you an opportunity that few
people have ever had in human history and that is the opportunity to be
free. The Founding Fathers did not want to live under the oppression of
tyrannical dictators. They believed that God made each person to be
free, to have his own conscience and to be free to make his own choices
in life.
The English King and Parliament were putting many unfair restrictions and laws on the American colonists. The Founding Fathers tried to get England to reason with them. When they wouldn’t respond, they decided that it was right to cast off the yoke of bondage the English were trying to put on them. They had very strong beliefs about the sanctity of human choice and human conscience, meaning that each person should have the choice to believe what he wants to and not be forced into anything against his will. Today, we live in freedom because of the principles these Founders believed. We have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to choose our own leaders, freedom of the press, freedom to choose where we can work, who we marry, where we live and many, many other freedoms. If you have never read the Declaration of Independence before, you really should read it to get a basic understanding of American freedom and the reasons behind the Revolutionary War. You can read it at the bottom of this page. Don’t be intimidated. It’s not that long and you can understand it. Go for it. It will really help you in understanding the purpose and history of this great nation. Go to the Declaration at the bottom of this page.
The Purpose of the Declaration of IndependenceWhy exactly was the Declaration of Independence written? What was the purpose of the Declaration of Independence? What purpose did it serve in the Revolutionary War? The American Declaration of Independence was written to lay out in firm terms the purposes behind the American Revolution, so that anyone who was in doubt about whether or not it was justified would understand the reasoning that the “rebels” held. Click here to read more about the Purpose of the Declaration of Independence.Pictures of the Declaration of Independence
Did you know the original Declaration of Independence can still be
viewed in Washington D.C. today?
You
can view the original Declaration here,
as well as see a copy of the Declaration of Independence that
personally belonged to George Washington. You can see a fragment of the
original rough draft by Thomas Jefferson of the Declaration of
Independence. You can also see pictures of several of the original
printings of the Declaration of Independence. View
pictures of the Declaration here.
Signers of the Declaration of IndependenceWho were the signers of the Declaration of Independence? Meet the men who risked their lives and their fortunes for liberty. On the Founding Fathers page you will find a list of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. You can read the life story of each signer of the Declaration here and find out how much they sacrificed so you could be free!Declaration of Independence SignaturesYou can view the actual signatures of each signer of the Declaration here!Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence
The Olive Branch PetitionDid you know that many American patriots did not want to break away from Great Britain? They tried to avoid the Revolutionary War. Over and over again they tried to get the British King and Parliament to address their complaints, but they never succeeded. Declaring independence was their last resort. Read about what became known as the Olive Branch Petition, a last effort of the Continental Congress to get the King to change how he treated the 13 colonies.The History of the Declaration of IndependenceThis is a lengthy article by the National Archives about the History of the Declaration.Contents of the Declaration of IndependenceWhat exactly is in the Declaration of Independence? The Declaration can be easily broken into six different parts. They are as follows:The first part is the Declaration of Independence Preamble. This part is familiar to many. It states the reasons the colonists wrote the Declaration. It goes like this, “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.” The second part could be called a “statement of belief.” It tells the beliefs of the colonists about human rights and the purpose of government. It begins with the familiar phrase, “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.” The third section lists all of the complaints the colonists had about the King’s conduct. It is long. The fourth section recounts the colonists past attempts to get the King to redress their grievances. The fifth section is the actual declaration, “We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America . . . 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.” The sixth and final section is the signatures. Look
at the signatures on the actual Declaration here.
Copy of the Declaration of Independence text:IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, 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, 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 harrass 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 benefits 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.
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