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Jefferson's Draft Copy When in the course of human events it
becomes necessary for a people to advance from that subordination in which they
have hitherto remained, & to assume among the powers of the earth the equal
& independant station to which the laws of nature & 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 change.
We hold these truths to be sacred &
undeniable; that all men are created equal & independant, that from that
equal creation they derive rights inherent & inalienable, among which are
the preservation of life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness; that
to secure these ends, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just
powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government
shall become destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter
or to abolish it, & to institute new government, laying it's foundation on
such principles & organising it's powers in such form, as to them shall
seem most likely to effect their safety & happiness. prudence indeed will
dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light &
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 & usurpations, begun at a distinguished period, & pursuing
invariably the same object, evinces a design to subject them to arbitrary
power, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government &
to provide new guards for their future security. such has been the patient
sufferance of these colonies; & such is now the necessity which constrains
them to expunge their former systems of government. the history of his present
majesty, is a history of unremitting injuries and usurpations, among which no
one fact stands single or solitary to contradict the uniform tenor of the rest,
all of which have in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny
over these states. to prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world, for
the truth of which we pledge a faith yet unsullied by falsehood.
he has forbidden his governors to pass
laws of immediate & pressing importance, unless suspended in their
operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has
neglected utterly to attend to them.
he has dissolved Representative houses
repeatedly & continually, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on
the rights of the people:
he has refused for a long space of time
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, & convulsions within:
he has endeavored 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; & raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands:
he has suffered the administration of
justice totally to cease in some of these colonies, refusing his assent to laws
for establishing judiciary powers:
he has made our judges dependant on his
will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and amount of their salaries:
he has kept among us in times of peace
standing armies & ships of war:
he has affected to render the military,
independant of & superior to the civil power:
he has combined with others to subject
us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitutions and unacknoleged by our laws;
giving his assent to their pretended acts of legislation, for quartering large
bodies of armed troops among us;
for protecting them by a mock-trial from
punishment for any murders 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 of the benefits of
trial by jury;
he has abdicated government here,
withdrawing his governors, & declaring us out of his allegiance &
protection:
he has plundered our seas, ravaged our
coasts, burnt our towns & destroyed the lives of our people:
he is at this time transporting large
armies of foreign merce naries to compleat the works of death, desolation &
tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty & perfidy unworthy the
head of a civilized nation:
he has endeavored 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, & conditions of
existence:
he has incited treasonable insurrections
in our fellow-subjects, with the allurements of forfeiture & confiscation
of our property:
he has waged cruel war against human
nature itself, violating it's most sacred rights of life & liberty in the
persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying
them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their
transportation thither. this piratical warfare, the opprobrium of
infidel powers, is the warfare of
the CHRISTIAN king of Great Britain. determined to keep open a market where MEN
should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing
every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce:
and that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he
is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase
that liberty of which he has deprived them, & murdering the people upon
whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former crimes committed against the
liberties of one people, with
crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of
another.
in every stage of these oppressions we
have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions
have been answered 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 people
who mean to be free. future ages will scarce believe that the hardiness of one
man, adventured within the short compass of 12 years only, on so many acts of
tyranny without a mask, over a people fostered & fixed in principles of
liberty.
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 a jurisdiction over these our states. we have
reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration & settlement here, no
one of which could warrant so strange a pretension: that these were effected at
the expence of our own blood & treasure, unassisted by the wealth or the
strength of Great Britain: that in constituting indeed our several forms of
government, we had adopted one common king, thereby laying a foundation for
perpetual league & amity with them: but that submission to their parliament
was no part of our constitution, nor ever in idea, if history may be credited:
and we appealed to their native justice & magnanimity, as well as to the
ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations which were likely to
interrupt our correspondence & connection. they too have been deaf to the
voice of justice & of consanguinity, & when occasions have been given
them, by the regular course of their laws, of removing from their councils the
disturbers of our harmony, they have by their free election re-established them
in power. at this very time too they are permitting their chief magistrate to
send over not only soldiers of our common blood, but Scotch & foreign
mercenaries to invade & deluge us in bloo.d. these facts have given the last
stab to agonizing affection, and manly spirit bids us to renounce for ever
these unfeeling brethren. we must endeavor to forget our former love for them,
and to hold them as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace
friends. we might have been a free & great people together; but a
communication of grandeur & of freedom it seems is below their dignity. be
it so, since they will have it: the road to glory & happiness is open to us
too; we will climb it in a separate state, and acquiesce in the necessity which
pronounces our everlasting Adieu!
We therefore the representatives of the United States of America in General Congress assembled do, in the name & by authority of the good people of these states, reject and renounce a11 allegiance & subjection to the kings of Great Britain & all others who may hereafter claim by, through, or under them; we utterly dissolve & break off a11 political connection which may have heretofore subsisted between us & the people or parliament of Great Britain; and finally we do assert and declare these a colonies to be free and independant states, and that as free & independant states they shall hereafter have power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, & to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do.
And for the support of this
declaration we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, & our
sacred honour
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The Final Copy
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 Legislature, 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 and 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.
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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