Declaration of Independence (1776)

“LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS”

by James Still, ©2016, RetraceOurSteps.com

(Jul. 1, 2016) — All thirteen Colonies approved a Resolution of Independence on July 2, 1776.  The completed Declaration of Independence was approved on July 4, 1776.   On display at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC is the copy ordered on July 19, 1776.  It was embossed [with large characters] on parchment and presented to Congress on Aug 2, 1776.

IN  CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776, The unanimous Declaration  of  the  thirteen  united  States of America,

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…   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…    Journals of Congress, Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

“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.”   Journals of Congress, Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

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“… [Independence] is determined by the Thirteen United Colonies, without one dissenting Colony.  We have now Got through with the Whole of the declaration, and… you will soon have the pleasure of seeing it.”  Caesar Rodney, Letter to Thomas Rodney, July 4, 1776