“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 cause 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...”
DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE
July 4, 1776
