It is difficult to fully comprehend the peril the signers of the Declaration of Independence submitted themselves to by putting their names on a document that formally threw off the rule of King George. This land was rich, a resource that the English sought to mine and control. Here's what these brave men signed:
When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissove the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of 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 right, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed, - That when any form of government becomes destructive to 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 is such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, in deed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience has 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 are usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them ender absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Then the Declaration goes on to list the offenses of the King against the people of the colonies. The document closes with:
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.
When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissove the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of 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 right, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed, - That when any form of government becomes destructive to 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 is such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, in deed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience has 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 are usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them ender absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Then the Declaration goes on to list the offenses of the King against the people of the colonies. The document closes with:
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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