How to evaluate the American Declaration of Independence?

At the University of Oklahoma Law Center

United States Declaration of Independence

1July 4, 776

United States of America.

At that time, in the course of human historical events, it is necessary for a nation to remove the political belt that has linked them with others, assume the earth nature among great powers, stand together independently and equally, accept the respect of opinions and the needs of mankind, and they should announce the reasons for their separation.

We believe that these truths are self-evident: all men are created equal, and they have been endowed with certain inalienable rights by the creator, including the right to life, liberty and the right to pursue happiness-in order to protect these rights, governments of all countries are among the people, and legitimate rights come from the consent of the ruled. Whenever any form of government becomes harmful to these purposes, the people have the right to change or abolish it in order to establish a new government, lay the foundation for these principles and organize their power. It is true that prudence will dominate the reason why governments in various countries should not make temporary changes after many years of establishment, and all corresponding experiences also show that human beings are more inclined to bear hardships and stand hard work, and will abolish the habit of government form for their own rights and interests. However, when a long train abuses and usurps power, it always pursues the same goal, which proves that the government has a design to reduce their autocratic rule, which is their right and obligation to overthrow such a government and provide them with new guarantees for future security. These colonies have always been resigned to fate. This situation now has to change the original political system of the government. Wang Daying, a historical book, is a historical and repeated act of injury and plunder, the direct purpose of which is to establish dictatorship and tyranny over these countries. To prove this, let the facts go to the just world.

He refused to approve the healthiest and necessary public interest in the law.

He forbade his governors to pass urgent and important laws unless the action was suspended until he agreed to what they deserved. When it was shelved, he completely ignored them and took care of them.

He refused to pass other laws to accommodate a large area of people, unless those people were willing to give up their representation in legislation, which was extremely precious and only tyrants were afraid.

He called on local legislatures to be unusual and uncomfortable, to stay away from keeping their public records, with the sole purpose of tolerating them, and to abide by their own measures.

He dissolved the House of Representatives many times, because the latter resolutely opposed the obligee he violated.

He refused for a long time, and after dissolving the House of Representatives, he led others to hold new elections. Accordingly, the legislative power cannot be lost, and it has returned to the exercise of the broad masses of the people; The rest of the countries were exposed to various dangers during this period, from external invasion and internal riots.

He tried his best to stop the population growth in these countries. To this end, he blocked the adoption of the naturalization law for foreigners, refused to approve other laws to encourage immigration, and increased land distribution under new conditions.

He refused to approve the law establishing judicial power.

He forced judges to rely on his own will to serve their duties and pay them the amount of salary.

He set up new offices for many people and sent officials here to harass our people and embezzle their property.

He has always been among us. In peacetime, with the consent of our legislature, there is no standing army.

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

He and others are subject to our jurisdiction, and our constitution is not recognized as our law; Give him all kinds of counterfeit money in line with their behavior:

The armed forces of large camping institutions are among us:

In order to protect them, pass the simulation test and avoid punishment, they should promise to kill the residents of these countries:

He can cut off our trade with the rest of the world;

Our taxes were collected without our consent;

In many cases, depriving us of our interests is tried by a jury:

We went beyond maritime transport and tried fabricated crimes:

The abolition of the liberal system abolished the British laws in neighboring provinces, established an authoritarian government there, and expanded the boundaries of the province, thus immediately becoming a model and a suitable tool for promoting the same authoritarian rule to these colonies:

Trying to put our charter, abolish our most precious laws and fundamentally change our form of government;

Suspend our own legislature and announce that they will give us legislative power under any circumstances.

They abandoned the government here, declared that we were not protected by it, and launched a war against us.

He has been plundering our sea areas, ravaging our coastal areas, burning down our towns and ruining the lives of our people.

It was at this time that he transported a large number of foreign mercenaries to complete the death, desolation and tyranny of his works, which had begun to be almost parallel to the cruelty and treachery of the environment. In the most barbaric times, he was totally unworthy of being a civilized head of state.

He forced our compatriots to carry imprisoned weapons on the high seas against their own country, become executioners, their friends and brothers, or become their own people.

He has been inciting civil strife among us, trying his best to kill the inhabitants of our frontier, the cruel Indian savage, and the well-known rule of war is to kill all men, women and children, regardless of conditions.

At every stage, we applied for these oppressive complaints in the most humble way: we asked again and again, but we got hurt again and again. A monarch's character is branded, and he can be regarded as a tyrant and unworthy to be the ruler of a free nation.

It's not that we haven't noticed the problems that British brothers should pay attention to. We often remind them of their intentions from time to time, and their legislature wants to expand our unreasonable jurisdiction. We have reminded them under what circumstances we immigrated here. We once called on them to have a natural sense of justice and generosity, and we begged them to abandon these predatory behaviors in our contact with each other, which would inevitably interrupt our contact and friendship. They also turned a deaf ear to the voices of justice and affection. Therefore, we must acquiesce in the necessity, condemn our separation and pursue them, because we believe that the rest of mankind, the enemy's war, is in peace, friends.

Therefore, our representative, the United States, gathered at the next meeting to appeal to the Supreme Court judges to do so in the name of our intentions, and at the same time solemnly declare that these joint colonies have become, and naturally should become, free and independent countries; They released all their allegiance to the British royal family and all their political ties with the country of Great Britain. Now, they should be completely dissolved. They think that as a free and independent country, they have every right to declare war, make peace, form alliances, trade and take all actions and things that other independent countries may take. As for supporting this declaration and protecting the sacred Providence with firm confidence, we promise each other our lives, property and sacred honor.

New Hampshire: Josiah bartlett, William whipple and Matthew Thornton.

Massachusetts: john hancock, samuel adams, Adams and rob terry Paine Elbridge.

Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William ellery.

Connecticut: roger sherman, samuel huntington, William and 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, Johnston, george clymer, james smith, George Taylor, james wilson, George Ross.

Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Reid, Thomas McCann.

Maryland: samuel chase, William Paca, Thomas Si Tong, Charles Carroll 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, Jon Payne

South Carolina: edward rutledge, thomas hayward, Thomas Lynch Jr. and Arthur Middleton Jr.

Georgia: Barton Gerwinat, Lyman Hall, George Walton.

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Attached is a Chinese translation for you to see.

United States Declaration of Independence

( 1776)

In the course of human historical events, when a nation has to break the existing political ties with another nation and gain the independent and equal status among countries in the world as stipulated by the "laws of nature" and the "God of nature", there is a sincere psychology of respecting human will, which requires them to announce the reasons that forced them to be independent.

We hold these truths 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 set up governments. The legitimate power of the government comes from the consent of the ruled. If any form of government becomes harmful to these purposes, then the people have the right to change it or abolish it in order to establish a new government. This new government must be based on this principle and organize its organs of power in this way, which can best promote its security and happiness in the eyes of the people. It is true that cautious psychology will dominate people's consciousness, thinking that a government with a long history should not be changed for secondary and temporary reasons; All past experience shows that as long as those evils are tolerable, human beings always prefer to endure them silently rather than abolish their accustomed political forms in order to restore their rights. However, when a government is full of evil, perverse and consistently pursues that goal, it is obviously trying to suppress the people under the arrogance of absolute absolutism. The people have the right and the obligation to overthrow that government and establish new guarantees for their future security. This is why the people in our colony were silent and humiliated in the past, but now they are forced to rise up and change the original political system. The history of the king of Great Britain today is a history of perseverance and perversion. All his measures have only one direct purpose, which is to establish absolute autocratic rule in our States. To prove this, let's put concrete facts before people in the just world:

He always refuses to approve the most useful and necessary laws for public welfare.

He always forbids his governors to approve urgent and badly needed decrees unless they are suspended before they agree; During such a delay, he completely ignored these laws.

He has always refused to approve other laws that allow people to settle in large areas unless they are willing to give up their representation in the legislature. This appearance is of inestimable significance to the people, but it is terrible only to tyrants.

He always calls state legislatures to special and inconvenient places far from their official archives for meetings. Its sole purpose is to make those legislative groups tired and obey his instructions.

He dissolved the state legislature many times because they steadfastly resisted his violation of people's rights.

After he dissolved the state legislature, he refused to let the people hold another election. In this way, the indelible "legislative power" will return to the hands of the broad masses of people and be implemented by the people themselves; At this time, countries are still in danger, with the threat of aggression outside and the crisis of unrest inside.

He has been restraining the population growth of the states. To this end, he blocked the approval of the Alien Naturalization Law, refused to approve other laws that encouraged people to emigrate, and even increased the restrictions in the new Land Distribution Law.

He will never approve those bills that set up judicial power organs, thus preventing the implementation of judicial work.

He has always wanted to make the term of office and salary of judges completely determined by his own will.

He set up many new officials at random and sent a large number of officials here to restrain our people and eat the cream of our people.

In peacetime, he stationed a standing army in our States without the consent of our legislature.

He has always placed the army outside the control of the civilian government and above it.

He has always been in cahoots with others, demanding that we obey the jurisdiction that is incompatible with our constitution and not recognized by our laws; He approved their fake bill for the following purposes:

A large number of armed forces are stationed in our States;

Cover up those armed forces with deceptive trials, so that those who commit any murder against the residents of the States can get away with it;

Cut off our trade with the rest of the world;

Tax us without our permission;

In many cases, we are deprived of the benefits of "jury rights" in justice;

Arrest us overseas for trial on trumped-up charges;

Abolish the British legal system that guarantees the freedom of neighboring areas, establish a violent government there, and expand its borders, so as to quickly make it an example and an appropriate tool, thus introducing the same authoritarian rule to these colonies;

Deprive our "Charter", abandon our most precious laws and fundamentally change our form of government;

Stop our own legislature and say they have the right to make laws for us on any occasion.

He declared that we were out of his protection and against us. In this way, he gave up the regime here.

He always plunders our ships at sea, harasses our coastal areas, burns down our towns and destroys the lives of our people.

At the moment, he is deploying a large number of foreign mercenaries, who want to cut us all off, turn our road club into a market and abuse tyranny. He created an atmosphere of arrogance and disloyalty among the disabled, which was rare in the most barbaric period in human history. He is totally unworthy of being the head of a civilized country.

He has been forcing our compatriots captured at sea to join the army to resist their country, to act as executioners to slaughter their brothers and friends, or to be killed by their brothers and friends themselves.

He has been inciting rebellion within us and has been trying his best to collude with the residents of our frontier and those cruel Indian barbarians to invade. Indians are famous for their way of fighting, that is, to eliminate all men, women and children, and the situation.

At every stage of his high-handed policy, we called for reform with the most humble words; However, our repeated appeals only brought insults again and again. A sinful monarch can be regarded as a tyrant in all his actions, and it is really unbearable to be a ruler of a free nation.

We haven't forgotten our English brothers. We have always warned them not to try to use their legislative procedures to impose illegal jurisdiction on us. We have reminded them of the actual situation of our immigration and living here. We appealed to their innate sense of justice and chivalry, and we also issued a sincere statement to them with our friendship of the same language and species, demanding the abolition of those conventional tyrannies, believing that those tyrannies would inevitably break our ties and friendship. However, they also turned a deaf ear to this just, flesh-and-blood appeal. So we have to admit that it is necessary to separate from them. We regard them as enemies in wartime and friends in peacetime, just like other human beings.

Therefore, we, the representative of the United States of America gathered in the General Assembly, call on the highest judge in the world to judge the justice of our intentions. In the name of the people and power of these colonies, we solemnly declare that these joint colonies have become, and should naturally become, free and independent United States; They have removed all subordination to the King of England, and all political ties between them and the Kingdom of Great Britain should be completely abolished from now on. As a free and independent United States, they have every right to declare war, make peace, form alliances, establish commercial relations, or take all other actions and affairs that should be taken by independent countries. In order to support this "declaration" and believe in the blessing of the gods with confidence, we are willing to mortgage our lives, property and sacred honor to each other forever.

[Omit signature of national representative]

A Brief Introduction to the American Declaration of Independence (1776)- Chen Chengzuo

1776 On July 4th (this day is also the independence day of the United States), the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, declaring that the thirteen colonies in North America formally broke away from the British Empire and became independent countries. The article explains why, at the Continental Congress on July 2nd, representatives of twelve colonial countries (new york abstained) decided to unite with colonial countries, which should be free and independent according to law. Although the formal vote to leave Britain was held on July 2, the date of the Declaration of Independence was still designated as the most important national holiday in the United States-Independence Day.

1775, 19 In April, 13 states in North America broke out with Britain, and the American people demanded the same rights as Britain. At that time, only a few colonial people demanded to leave Britain. When the War of Independence started from 1775 to 1776, Britain began to claim the sovereignty of American colonies by military force, but most American people were unmoved and increased their confidence in leaving Britain. The losses and restrictions caused by the war increased the rift between the colony and the home country.

On April 1776 and 12, representatives of the Continental Congress were appointed at the Revolutionary Conference in North Carolina, and they voted for independence at the Continental Congress. Then on May 15, Virginia instructed its representative to put forward an independent proposal, which was finally passed on July 2. This proposal is represented by Richard of Virginia. Li () proposed it on June 7th. After this meeting, the relationship between American colonies and Britain was further severed. Richard. Li's proposal said that as early as1775 65438+February 6, the jurisdiction of the British parliament over the colonies had been abolished, and the British king's kingship over the American colonies would be completely abolished on May 1776. Claiming that all colonies have the right to establish their own government. Li's proposal was later postponed for several reasons: representatives of some States were not allowed to vote for independence; Some people are against independence, and some people think that the government system or foreign aid should be determined before voting for independence.

However, one by Thomas? Jefferson (Thomas Jefferson), John Adams (john adams), Benjamin? The committee composed of Benjamin Franklin, roger sherman (roger sherman) and others quickly decided to draft a statement to prove the legitimacy of June 1 1 independence. This declaration was completed. In July 1, representatives of nine states voted for independence, although John? Dickinson (John Dickinson) strongly opposed it. The next day, only representatives of New York State were not allowed to vote. Li's proposal was passed (the New York State Council passed an independent resolution on July 9, and the representatives of New York State voted in favor of this proposal on July 15. ) 19 In July, the Continental Congress named this document "Declaration of the Thirteen States of the United States of America", and then this document was put into a parchment bag. On August 2, the members attending the meeting signed their names on the parchment bag, and the last signer was Thomas? MacKay (Thomas McKean), whose name is not on the file before 1777.