NARA | The Declaration of Independence: A = Transcription

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November 27, 2007 =

The Declaration of Independence: A = Transcription

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of=20 America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for = one people=20 to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with = another,=20 and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and = equal=20 station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle = them, a=20 decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they = should=20 declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are = created=20 equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain = unalienable=20 Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of=20 Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are = instituted among=20 Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, = --That=20 whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, = it is=20 the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to = institute new=20 Government, laying its foundation on such principles and = organizing its=20 powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect = their=20 Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that = Governments long=20 established should not be changed for light and transient causes; = and=20 accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more = disposed to=20 suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by = abolishing=20 the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of = abuses=20 and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a = design to=20 reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is = their duty,=20 to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their = future=20 security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; = and=20 such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their = former=20 Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great = Britain is=20 a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in = direct=20 object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. = To=20 prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and = necessary=20 for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass = Laws of=20 immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their = operation=20 till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he = has=20 utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass = other=20 Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless = those=20 people would relinquish the right of Representation in the = Legislature,=20 a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. =
He has=20 called together legislative bodies at places unusual, = uncomfortable, and=20 distant from the depository of their public Records, for the = sole=20 purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. =
He has=20 dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with = manly=20 firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has = refused=20 for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be = elected;=20 whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have = returned=20 to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining = in the=20 mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, = and=20 convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the = population of=20 these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for = Naturalization=20 of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their = migrations=20 hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of = Lands.
He=20 has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his = Assent to=20 Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges = dependent=20 on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the = amount and=20 payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New = Offices,=20 and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and = eat out=20 their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, = Standing=20 Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has = affected to=20 render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil=20 power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a = jurisdiction=20 foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; = giving his=20 Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering = large=20 bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a = mock=20 Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit = on the=20 Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with = all parts=20 of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: =
For=20 depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by = Jury:
For=20 transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended = offences
For=20 abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring = Province,=20 establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its=20 Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit = instrument for=20 introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For = taking=20 away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and = altering=20 fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending = our own=20 Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to = legislate=20 for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government = here, by=20 declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against = us.
He has=20 plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and = destroyed=20 the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting = large=20 Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, = desolation=20 and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & = perfidy=20 scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally = unworthy the=20 Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow = Citizens=20 taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their = Country, to=20 become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to = fall=20 themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic = insurrections=20 amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of = our=20 frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of = warfare, is=20 an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and=20 conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for = Redress in=20 the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered = only by=20 repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every = act=20 which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free = people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish = brethren. We=20 have warned them from time to time of attempts by their = legislature to=20 extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded = them of the=20 circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have = appealed to=20 their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by = the=20 ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, = would=20 inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too = have=20 been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must,=20 therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our = Separation, and=20 hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in = Peace=20 Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of = America, in=20 General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the = world=20 for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by = Authority of=20 the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, = That=20 these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and = Independent=20 States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British = Crown,=20 and that all political connection between them and the State of = Great=20 Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free = and=20 Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude = Peace,=20 contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts = and=20 Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the = support of=20 this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine = Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our = Fortunes and=20 our sacred Honor.

The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions = indicated:

Column=20 1
Georgia:
   Button=20 Gwinnett
   Lyman = Hall
   George=20 Walton

Column 2
North=20 Carolina:
   William=20 Hooper
   Joseph Hewes
   John = Penn
South Carolina:
   Edward=20 Rutledge
   Thomas Heyward,=20 Jr.
   Thomas Lynch, = Jr.
   Arthur=20 Middleton

Column = 3
Massachusetts:
John=20 Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William = Paca
Thomas=20 Stone
Charles Carroll of = Carrollton
Virginia:
George=20 Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin=20 Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter=20 Braxton

Column=20 4
Pennsylvania:
   Robert=20 Morris
   Benjamin = Rush
   Benjamin=20 Franklin
   John = Morton
   George=20 Clymer
   James = Smith
   George=20 Taylor
   James = Wilson
   George=20 Ross
Delaware:
   Caesar=20 Rodney
   George = Read
   Thomas=20 McKean

Column 5
New=20 York:
   William = Floyd
   Philip=20 Livingston
   Francis = Lewis
   Lewis=20 Morris
New Jersey:
   Richard=20 Stockton
   John=20 Witherspoon
   Francis=20 Hopkinson
   John = Hart
   Abraham=20 Clark

Column 6
New=20 Hampshire:
   Josiah=20 Bartlett
   William=20 Whipple
Massachusetts:
   Samuel=20 Adams
   John Adams
   Robert = Treat=20 Paine
   Elbridge Gerry
Rhode=20 Island:
   Stephen=20 Hopkins
   William=20 Ellery
Connecticut:
   Roger=20 Sherman
   Samuel=20 Huntington
   William=20 Williams
   Oliver Wolcott
New=20 Hampshire:
   Matthew=20 Thornton

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