American watchman and Delaware advertiser. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1822-1828, 1825-07-01
Declaration Of
IMlD5NsPl E551f DeSlf g&e
IN CONGRESS-, JULY 4, 1875.
BY the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
in Congress assembled;
a DEcLAR ALTON.


necessary for one people to dissolve the political
bands which have connected them with another,
and to assume, among the powers oil the earth, the
sepa and equal station 10 which the laws OF ma
,urc and Of natures God enttlc them, decent res
pect for the opinions of mankind requires, that they
should declare the causes which impel them to the
sc, .Aration.
We hold these Truths to be self-evden., that all
men are created equal; that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable rights that
among these are iie liberty, and the pursuit oil hap
piness--That, to secure these rights, governments
are instituted among men, deriving their just pow
ers from the consent OF the governed; that whenev-
err any form of government becomes destructive oil
these ends, it is the right Of the people to alter or
abolish it, and to institute a 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 shown, that mankind are more disposed to sui
fer, while evils are siderable, than to right them
selves by abolishing the forms to which they are
accustomed. But when . long train OF abuses and
usnrpations, pursuing invariably the same object
evinces design 10 reduce them under absolute des-
polsm il is heir right, it is their duty to throw off
such government, and to provide new guards for
their future security. Such has been the patient
suiferance of these colonies; and such is now the
necessity which coustrains them to alter their for
mer systems Of government. The history Of the
present king of Great Britain is d history OF re
peated injuries and usurpaons, all having in direct
object the establishment OF an absolute tyranny
these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted
to a candid world:-
He has refused his assent to laws the most whole.
some and necessary Tor the public good
He has forbidden his governors 10 pass laws OF
immediate and pressing importance, unless suspen-
ted in their operation till his assent should 5e OBJ
tanned and when so suspended, he has utterly ne.
elected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accom-
mediation of large districts OF people, unless those
people would relinqush the right Of representation
in the Legislature; a right inestmable 10 them and
formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies, at pla
ces unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the
depository of their public records, for the sole pur
pose of fatiguing them into compliance with his
measures.
He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly
for opposing with manly hrmness, his invasons on
the rights OF the people.
lie ha, refused for long time alter such dissolu.
tons, to cause others to be elected whereby the
legislative powers, incapable of anniha'ion, have
returned to the people at large for their exercise;
the state remaining. in the meantime, exposed to all
within.
He has cndeavorcd to prevent the population Of
these states; for that purpose obstructng the laws
for naturalization of foreigners refusing to pass
others to encourage their migration hither, and
raising the conditions OF new appropriations of
lands.
He has INSTRUCTED the administration of Justice
by refusing his assent to the laws for establishing
judiciary powers.
H. haar udp uaIo
for the tenure Of their offices, and the payment OF
their salaries.
He has erected multitude of new Offices, and
sent hther swarms OF officers, to harass our people
and eat out their substance.
Eie has kept among US in time of peace standing
armies without the consent of our legislature.
He has affected to render the military ndepen-
dent Of, and superior to, the civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to
jurisdiction foreign to constitution, and unac-
knowledged by our laws, giving his assent their
acts of pretended legislation
For quartering large bodies Of armed troops
among US:
For protecting them by mock trial from pun
ishment for any murder which they should commit
on the inhabitants Of these states
For imposing taxes on US without consent |:
For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefit OF
trial by jury:
For transporting US beyond seas, to be tried for
pretended offences
For abolishng the free system Of English law in
neghboIing province, establishing therein an ar.
bitrary government, and charging its boundaries
so as to render il at example and fit instru-
ment Of introducing the same absolute rule into
their colonies:
For taking away our charters, abolishng our
most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the
forms OF our government:
For suspending our own legislatures, and declsr.
ing themselves invested with power TO legslate fol
us in all cases whatever.
He has abdicated government here, by declaring