The original text of the American Declaration of Independence is translated.

Declaration of Independence of Thirteen Colonies

In Congress, July 4th, 1776

The unanimous declaration of the thirteen States of the United States of America,

When it is necessary for a nation to break the political ties that link them with another nation in the process of human activities and assume the independent and equal status given to them by the laws of nature and the God of nature in the power of the earth, decent respect for human opinions requires them to announce the reasons for their separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that the creator has endowed them with certain inalienable rights, including the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In order to protect these rights, people have established a government, and the legitimate power of the government comes from the consent of the ruled. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these goals, the people have the right to change or abolish it and establish a new government, laying its foundation and organizing its power with principles and forms that seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness to them.

In fact, prudence will determine that the long-term government should not be changed for minor and short-term reasons; Therefore, all experience shows that human beings are more inclined to suffer, and evil can be tolerated, rather than correcting themselves by abolishing their customary forms.

However, when a series of abuse of power and extortion in pursuit of the same goal show that someone is trying to put them under absolute autocracy, they have the right and obligation to overthrow such a government and provide new guarantees for their future security.

This is the patience of these colonies; This is the necessity of forcing them to change their previous government system now. The history of the King of Great Britain (George III) today is a history of constant injury and usurpation, and the direct goal of all this is to establish an absolute tyranny in these States. To prove this, let the facts be submitted to a just world.

He refused to approve the laws that were most beneficial and necessary for the public interest.

He prohibited his governors from passing laws of direct and urgent importance unless they were suspended until his consent should be obtained, and when suspended, he completely ignored them.

He refused to adopt other laws to accommodate the people in most areas, unless these people gave up their representation in the legislature. This right is immeasurable to them, and only tyrants are afraid.

He called the legislature in unusual places, uncomfortable and far from their public records, with the sole purpose of fatiguing them to abide by his measures.

He dissolved the House of Representatives many times because they firmly opposed his violation of people's rights.

He refused for a long time, and after such dissolution, others were elected; The indestructible legislative power has returned to the people and is exercised by them; At the same time, the country is still facing the danger of foreign invasion and internal turmoil.

He tried to stop the population of these States; To this end, obstruct the naturalization law of foreigners; Refuse to pass other bills to encourage immigrants and improve the conditions for new land allocation.

He refused to approve the law establishing judicial power, which hindered the implementation of justice.

He makes judges completely dependent on his will in terms of term of office, salary and payment.

He set up many new offices and sent a large number of officials here to harass our people and eat their materials.

In peacetime, he kept a standing army among us without the consent of our legislature.

He tried to make the army independent of and above the civilian regime.

He joined forces with others to put us under a jurisdiction that has nothing to do with our constitution and is not recognized by our laws; Allow them to pretend to legislate:

A large number of armed forces are stationed among us;

Protect them from any punishment for murdering residents of these States through mock trials:

Cut off our trade with the rest of the world;

Tax us without our consent;

In many cases, we were deprived of the right to trial by jury:

Send us overseas to be tried on fake charges;

Abolish the free system of British law in neighboring provinces, establish an arbitrary government there, and expand its borders, making it an example and a suitable tool to introduce the same absolute rule to these colonies immediately:

Cancel our charter, abolish our most valuable laws, and fundamentally change the form of our government:

Suspend our own legislature and declare that they have the right to legislate for us under any circumstances.

He renounced the government here by declaring that we were not protected by him and waging war against us.

He plundered our oceans, ravaged our coasts, burned down our towns and destroyed the lives of our people.

At this time, he was transporting a large number of foreign mercenaries to complete the work of death, desolation and tyranny. His cruelty and treachery were rare in the most barbaric times, and he was totally unworthy of being the head of a civilized country.

He forced our compatriots captured on the high seas to take up arms against their country, become executioners of their friends and brothers, or die at their hands.

He incited domestic rebellion among us, and tried his best to provoke the residents of our frontier, the ruthless Indian barbarians. Their rules of war were to kill them regardless of age, sex and conditions.

At every stage of these oppression, we ask for redress in the most humble way. Our repeated petitions have only received repeated injuries. A monarch, if his character is branded by every behavior that can be defined as a tyrant, is not suitable to be the ruler of a free nation.

We are not lacking in care for our English brothers.

We warn them from time to time that their legislature is trying to extend improper jurisdiction to us.

We have reminded them of our immigration and settlement here.

We call on them to be born just and generous, and we call them to deny these usurpations with our common blood relationship, which will inevitably interrupt our contact and communication.

They also turned a deaf ear to the voice of justice and blood. Therefore, we must tacitly condemn the necessity of our separation and regard them as enemies in war and friends in peace, just like other human beings.

Therefore, we, the representatives of the United States of in the name of people, gathered at the plenary meeting to ask the world's highest judge to rule on our intentions and solemnly publish and announce them with the kindness and authority of these colonies.

These unified colonies are, and should be, free and independent countries; They are no longer loyal to the British royal family,

All political ties between them and Britain should be completely dissolved;

As free and independent countries, they have full power to wage war, conclude peace, conclude alliances and establish trade.

And do all other acts and things that an independent country has the right to do.

In order to support this declaration, we firmly believe that God will bless us, and we swear to each other with our lives, property and sacred honor.

The signatories of the Declaration represent the new country as follows:

New Hampshire:

Josiah bartlett, William whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:

John hancock, samur Adams, john adams, rob terry Paine, Elbridge Gerry.

Rhode Island:

William ellery Stephen Hopkins

Connecticut:

Roger sherman, samuel huntington, william williams, Oliver Walcott

New york:

William Freud, 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 and George Ross.

Delaware:

Caesar Rodney, George Reid, Thomas McCann

Maryland:

Samuel chase, William Paka, Thomas Si Tong, Charles Carroll of Carrollton.

Virginia:

George Weiss, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, carter braxton.

North Carolina:

William Hooper, Joseph Hughes, john payne

South Carolina:

Edward rutledge, thomas hayward Jr., Thomas Lynch Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:

Barton Gwennett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

In the course of the development of human affairs, when a nation must be separated from another nation and stand in the world nation's forest in an independent and equal capacity according to the laws of nature and the will of God, out of respect for human public opinion, the reasons driving its independence must be announced.

We hold the following truth to be self-evident: all men are created equal, and the creator endowed them with certain inalienable rights, including the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In order to protect these rights, people established a government among them, and the legal rights of the government were granted with the consent of the ruled. Once any form of government undermines the realization of these goals, the people have the right to replace or abolish it in order to establish a new government. The principles on which the new government is based and the way to organize its rights must make people think that only in this way can they be most likely to achieve security and happiness. To be prudent, a government that has been established for many years should not be replaced for irrelevant and temporary reasons. All past experience shows that human beings are willing to endure any hardships, as long as they can endure it, and do not want to abolish their customary forms of government for the sake of peace.

However, when a series of abuse of power and extortion that always pursue the same goal show that the government is trying to put the people under tyranny, the people have the right and obligation to overthrow such a government and provide new guarantees for its future security. This is how these colonies suffered in the past, and why they must change the government system now. The history of the Kingdom of Great Britain today is a history of repeatedly hurting and plundering these colonies, and its direct goal is to establish a dictatorship and tyranny over the states. In order to prove the truth of the above sentence, the facts are now made public and judged by a just world.

He refused to approve the laws that were most beneficial and necessary for the public interest.

He forbade his colonial governor to approve urgent and extremely important laws, or shelved them until he got his consent, and after they were shelved, he completely ignored them.

He refused to approve other laws that are convenient for people in large areas unless the people in these areas are willing to give up their representation in the legislature; Representation is extremely precious to the people, and only tyrants are afraid of it.

He called state legislators to an unusual and uncomfortable place for a meeting, far away from their files, with the aim of exhausting them and forcing them to submit.

He repeatedly dissolved the state houses of representatives because the latter firmly opposed his violation of people's rights.

After he dissolved the House of Representatives, he refused to elect another person for a long time, so this inalienable legislative power was returned.

Ordinary people exercise, so that during this period, States are still in danger of foreign invasion and internal riots.

He tried to stop the states from increasing their population. To this end, he blocked the adoption of the naturalization law for foreigners and refused to approve it.

He encouraged immigration laws and improved the conditions for allocating new land.

He refused to approve the law establishing judicial power to obstruct the implementation of justice.

He forced the judge to be under his own will in order to keep his tenure, the amount of salary and payment.

He indiscriminately set up a new government office and sent a large number of officials here to harass our people and embezzle their property.

In peacetime, he kept his standing army among us without the consent of our legislature.

He exerted influence to make the army independent of the civilian regime.

He colluded with others, put us under the jurisdiction that did not conform to our laws and regulations and was not recognized by our laws, and also approved all kinds of fake bills they concocted so that they could station a large number of armed forces among us; No matter how serious these people commit murders on the residents of our States, he can shelter them with extra trials and let them get away with it; He can cut off our trade with the rest of the world; Tax us without our consent; In many cases, we are deprived of the rights and interests of the jury system; Escort us overseas for trial on trumped-up charges; He abolished the free system of English law in a neighboring province, established an authoritarian government there, expanded his territory, and immediately became a model and a suitable tool to promote the same authoritarian rule to the colonies here; He abolished many of our charters, our most precious laws, and fundamentally changed the form of our state government; He prevented our legislature from exercising its power, claiming that they had the right to make laws for us under any circumstances.

They abandoned the government here, declared that we were no longer protected by them, and launched a war against us. He plundered our waters, ravaged our coastal areas, burned down our towns and ruined the lives of our people.

At this time, he was transporting a large number of foreign mercenaries to engage in his activities of creating death, desolation and tyranny. His cruelty and meanness can't even be compared with the most barbaric times from the beginning, and he is totally unworthy to be the head of a civilized country.

He forced our compatriots captured by them on the high seas to take up arms against their own country, making them executioners to kill their relatives and friends, or letting them die at their hands. He incited civil strife among us and tried his best to provoke the ruthless Indian Man Zi to deal with the residents of our frontier. As we all know, the fighting principle of Indians is to shoot and kill regardless of gender, age and right and wrong. At every stage of these oppression, we call for correction in the most humble language. And our wishes again and again only get hurt again and again.

Everything a monarch can do only a tyrant reveals his character, and he is not worthy of being a free people. It's not that we didn't think of our English brothers. Their legislature wants to extend unreasonable jurisdiction to us, and we often inform them of this attempt. We also told them that we immigrated and settled here. We once begged them to have a natural sense of justice and generosity, and to abandon these predatory behaviors, because these predatory behaviors will inevitably break our relations and exchanges. But they also turned a deaf ear to this call for justice and blood. Therefore, we should get rid of them and treat them like other nationalities in the world: it is the enemy who fights with us; Those who make up with me are all friends.

Therefore, we, the representatives of the United States of in the name of people, gathered at the continental congress, appealed to the highest referee in the world with the goodwill of the colonies and their authorization, explained our serious intentions, and solemnly declared:

Our unified colony is, and should be, an independent and free country based on justice; All our loyal obligations to the British royal family and all our political ties with the Kingdom of Great Britain have been severed and must be severed.

As an independent and free country, we have every right to declare war, conclude peace, form alliances, conduct trade and take all actions that an independent country has the right to take.

We firmly believe in the blessing of the gods, and swear to each other with our lives, property and sacred reputation to support this declaration.

American Declaration of Independence-Translated by Lin Yutang

Our national affairs are in such a mess that we have to part ways with the emperor and start our own kitchen. No one cares about anyone except God, so we should always pay an account to everyone and make it clear that people know what is going on and don't doubt what we are doing.

"We won't be crooked, that's all. On the one hand, you and I have one nose and two eyes compared with others. If you don't give up, you may be much better than others. Second, no one wants to belittle our position; Third, a person can live as he wants, play as he wants and go wherever he wants, as long as it doesn't interfere with others. Why won't the government let us do this? It is XXX. " Also, people can decide what they want. They don't care about other people's birds. If the government doesn't give it to us, we have to get out and help another person change it. Of course, it's not like those idiots and bastards in South America, or the * * * production party, which revolutionizes every day. Or once the master in the yamen makes a mistake, it is impossible to change his life. Sometimes, nobles embezzle money and do bad things. Let's turn a blind eye It's better than a stupid party revolution every day. As long as it's not without reason, it can still be said, can't it? However, at this juncture of the chaos of state affairs, a person has no status at all, and he is regarded as a slave. Now, everyone has to lock up the lives of those dog bureaucrats and ask the people to watch them, so as not to let them steal chickens in a big way. People in thirteen states say so. They have had enough of their sins and can't mix any more.

Politics has been in chaos since Emperor George ascended the throne. Who is not convinced to negotiate with him and invites you to dinner with a fist? Where is justice? We'll settle accounts with him and show you.

He always refutes the rules adopted by us as a whole, but recognizes the rules that we all oppose.

If we have any opinions, he can't see them with his own eyes. As soon as they appeared, he put them in his pocket and pretended to forget. You mentioned them to him, but you just ignored them.

People went to the palace to petition him to make a new law, and he did the same: at last, he sealed off the parliament and made him claim to be alone, otherwise, one and two would be impossible.

He asked the parliament to meet in three villages on the horizon beyond the ridge. He is too happy to go to anyone and let him bully.

Councillors went to see him and said something good or bad, but he just disappeared and let them go home.

The house is closed, but if you want to open it, you won't open it, and no one is in charge of politics. It has become a lawless world.

He cajoled people into not coming to our thirteen states. No one who wants to come is allowed to read the newspaper, and people refuse to come as soon as they see it. Even if they come, they don't give fields, so they have to go back, and some don't come at all.

He cheated the judge, so he refused to spend more money on several officials. People had a case, and after three or two years, nothing happened, so he had to admit his bad luck and go back empty-handed.

If the judge does not obey his will, he will have to leave, and the official salary will not be paid. Tell them to respect God first, or they won't get the big one.

When you are happy, add some staff, arrange some unknown people, and take money from the pockets of our people, whether you like it or not.

A good peaceful world has raised a large number of eight hills, which disturbs the people. It is useless for us to protest.

He let these eight hills run amok, and those who don't hang broadsword will listen to him.

He let corrupt officials commit crimes everywhere, and when he came to power, he did the following things:

Tell some useless Chuba, which everyone hates, to stay in people's homes.

When Qiu Ba killed someone, he set a trap and let them get away with it.

Mind other people's business

Don't ask if there is a reason to pay taxes.

If you arrest someone in the general's office, that person is called a juror, not a juror.

Driving people out of the country for no reason, the case is handled here, and people are invited to be tried overseas.

Let a few bad guys serve as officials of our neighboring countries, slowly expanding, hoping to swallow us up one day and be as corrupt as them. Taking the constitution as a trick, everyone said that no one would say bad laws, but he cancelled it and left him alone.

He closed the door as if he had done it better than others. If you don't do it now, you will go to war with us. What kind of emperor do we still recognize and what kind of official do we do?

He burned the city to kill people, worse than dogs, and more guilty at sea.

He hired some Dutch bastards to beat us and taught them that as long as they can beat us, they can plunder at will, regardless of international law.

Our own people caught him at sea, and whether we like it or not, we forced ourselves to take up guns and kill our compatriots.

He instigated the Indians to make trouble, gave them guns and taught them to kill our men, women and children.

"Every time he does this, we all refuse to fight with him. Every time we refuse to fight with him, he still goes on like this. " If a person is always so arrogant and unreasonable, what is his status? He just doesn't deserve to worry about us losing our identity and should leave. "

"Let's reason with the British, always to the point. Almost every day, we persuade them that those bureaucrats there violate the law, exceed their powers and infringe on us. We always tell them who we are, what we are doing and why we have to cross the ocean. Let's treat them fairly and tell them that if this goes on, we will make our own plans one day and they will know what is at stake. But the more you reason with them, the more unreasonable you are. It can be seen that they are not with us, or they have a hard time with us, so we have to fight with them and make sense after the fight.

Therefore, we decided, on behalf of the people in the capitals of thirteen states, to make a resolution in the parliament: our United States was the capital of thirteen former states, and it has been a free country since then, and it should have been like this a long time ago; Let's break with the emperor, make a clean break with him and never listen to the British again; Now that we are free, we can do what a free country can do, especially declaring war, negotiating peace, doing business and so on.

Let's curse with the Bible. Everyone is single-minded, starting from the beginning to the end, regardless of interests, success or failure, good or bad, that is, everyone will die and will go to the guillotine.

This is a good point, isn't it? If only it were implemented in his own country.