Declaration of Independence United States

Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776

Declaration unanimously adopted by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen United States of America

In relation to the development of human affairs In the process, when one nation must dissolve the political ties between it and another nation and obtain an independent and equal status among the countries of the world in accordance with the laws of nature and the gods of nature, out of respect for the general will of mankind, it must Declare the reasons why they had to become independent.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: The Creator created all individuals equal and endowed them with certain unalienable Rights, among which are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. In order to protect these rights, people establish governments among themselves, and the legitimate power of governments comes from the consent of the governed. As long as any form of government destroys the above purposes, the people have the right to change or abolish it and establish a new government; the principles on which the new government is based and the way in which power is organized must maximize the safety and happiness of the people. Indeed, prudence dictates that governments long established should not be changed for minor and transitory reasons. All past experience also shows that humans would rather tolerate any suffering, as long as it is bearable, rather than abolish the government they have long been accustomed to to restore their own rights and interests. However, when the government consistently abuses its power, usurps and plunders, and pursues this goal unchangingly, which is enough to prove that it aims to put the people under absolute autocratic rule, then the people have the right and the obligation to overthrow the government and To establish new safeguards for their future security--such was the resignation of these colonies in the past, and the reason why they were now compelled to change their former systems of government. The history of the current king of Great Britain is a history of repeated self-interest and robbery at the expense of others. The direct purpose of all these atrocities is to establish an absolute tyranny in these states. In order to prove that what is said is true, the following facts are announced to the just world.

He refuses to approve laws that are most beneficial and necessary for the public good. He forbade his governors to pass laws of urgent and vital importance, or else put them in abeyance pending his assent; and once they were shelved, he entirely ignored them. He refused to ratify other laws which would permit the settlement of large areas by the people, unless those people would relinquish their right of representation in the legislature; but this right was of inestimable value to them, and is feared only by tyrants. He summoned legislative bodies to meetings in places that were inconvenient, uncomfortable, and remote from the archives, for the sole purpose of straining them into obedience to his will. He repeatedly dissolved the assemblies of the colonies because they had resolutely opposed his infringement of the rights of the people. After dissolving the colonial assemblies, he refused for a long time to elect a new assembly. But the legislative power cannot be abolished, so it has been returned to the hands of the people at large and exercised by them; at that time, the states were still full of dangers, with the danger of invasion from without and the fear of unrest at home. He tried hard to suppress the increase in population in the colonies. To this end, he blocked the passage of the "Law for the Naturalization of Aliens", refused to approve other laws to encourage aliens to immigrate to the states, and raised the conditions for the distribution of new lands.

He obstructed justice by refusing to approve laws establishing judicial powers. He controlled the terms of office, salary amounts and payments of judges, thus making them completely subordinate to his personal will. He established various new yamen and dispatched officials like locusts to harass our people and eat away at the people's wealth and wealth. He has stationed among us, in time of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.

He made the military independent of and above the civil power. He has colluded with those who have placed us under a jurisdiction alien to our institutions and not recognized by our laws; and he has approved counterfeit bills concocted by these individuals to achieve the following ends:

Garrisoning us with large numbers of armed troops; sheltering them with sham trials so that the murderers of the inhabitants of our states go unpunished; cutting off our trade with all parts of the world; imposing taxes upon us without our consent; depriving us of the rights of juries in many cases; deporting us overseas to trial on trumped-up charges; abolishing the free institutions of English law in a neighboring country, establishing there an arbitrary government, and extending its boundaries, with the intention of making it a model and convenient instrument for imposing the same despotism upon the colonies here; canceling our charters, repealing our most precious laws, and fundamentally changing our form of government; suspending our own legislative bodies, declaring They themselves have the power to legislate for us in any case. He abandoned power here by declaring that we were no longer under his protection and waging war against us. He plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. At this time, he was transporting a large number of foreign mercenaries to complete the activities of massacre, destruction and wreaking havoc. This kind of activity had begun long ago, and its cruelty and despicability could not be surpassed even in the most barbaric era. He is completely unworthy of being the head of a civilized country. He forces our fellow citizens whom he has captured on the high seas to serve in the army, to turn against their own country, to become the perpetrators of the murder of their friends and relatives, or to die at the hands of their own friends and relatives.

He fomented civil strife among us, and did his best to instigate the ruthless Indians to murder and plunder the inhabitants of our frontiers. As we all know, the Indian way of fighting is to kill without distinction between men, women, old and young.

In every stage of these oppressions, we have asked for relief in the most humble terms, but our repeated petitions have been answered with repeated hurt. A prince, then, whose character has been marked by conduct which may be regarded as a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

It’s not that we don’t care about our brothers in the UK. We have repeatedly warned them that their legislatures seek to impose unwarranted jurisdiction over us. We also reminded them of the circumstances under which we immigrated and settled here. We once appealed to their innate sense of justice and chivalry, and we sincerely asked them, for the sake of sharing the same culture and species, to reject these unreasonable plunders that would inevitably destroy our mutual relations and dealings. They also turned a deaf ear to this call from justice and based on blood. We had no choice but to declare our separation from them. We will treat them the same way we treat other nations: enemies in time of war and friends in peacetime.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America assembled in the Continental Congress, for all our legitimate purposes, appeal to the highest justice in the world: In the name and by the authority of the good people of the colonies, We most solemnly declare that these united colonies are henceforth, and rightfully so, free and independent nations; that they are discharged from all allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain, and that all political relations between them and the State of Great Britain are hereby severed, and must be Severed; as free and independent countries, they have full rights to declare war, make peace, form alliances, trade, and take all actions and matters that independent countries should take and deal with. To strengthen this declaration, we pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor to each other, with a firm belief in divine protection.