Declaration of Independence

About this document

The Declaration of Independence is not part of the Constitution and is not law. It is a public statement, adopted on July 4, 1776, in which the thirteen American colonies announced they were separating from Great Britain and explained why. It is included on this site because it is the founding document the Constitution refers back to, and because its opening paragraphs state ideas about government and rights that the Constitution was later written to put into practice.

If you are looking for your legal rights, read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The Declaration explains why the country exists. The Constitution explains how it works.

Verbatim — Preamble and Statement of Rights

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.

Plain English — Preamble and Statement of Rights

Sometimes a group of people decides they need to separate from the country that has been governing them and stand as their own equal nation. When that happens, they owe the rest of the world an explanation of why.

We believe these things are obvious and need no proof: All people are created equal. Every person is born with certain rights that no government can take away. Among these rights are the right to live, the right to be free, and the right to pursue what makes you happy.

Governments exist to protect these rights, and governments only have the authority their people give them. When a government starts destroying the rights it was created to protect, the people have the right to change that government or replace it entirely, and to build a new government on whatever principles they believe will best keep them safe and free.

Verbatim — The Charges Against the King

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.

Plain English — The Charges Against the King

Replacing a long-standing government is serious, and it should not be done over small or temporary problems. History shows that people will put up with a great deal before they take such a step. But when a government commits abuse after abuse, all aimed at putting the people under total control, the people have not only the right but the responsibility to remove that government and build a new one that will protect them.

That is what these Colonies have endured, and that is why they must now change their government. The current King of Great Britain has a record of repeated harm and unlawful actions, all aimed at establishing total tyranny over these States. The facts that follow are offered as proof to a fair-minded world.

About the list of charges

The Declaration then lists 27 specific charges against King George III. These are historical accusations from 1776, not legal claims that apply today. They include charges that the King refused to approve laws the Colonies needed, dissolved their legislatures, kept armies in their towns without consent, cut off their trade, taxed them without their agreement, denied them jury trials, and waged war against them.

The full list is preserved in the original at the National Archives. This site is focused on the parts of the Declaration that state principles still referred to in American law and politics — the opening section above, and the conclusion below.

Verbatim — Conclusion

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. 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.

Plain English — Conclusion

We, the Representatives of the united States of America, meeting together in Congress, declare in the name of the people of these Colonies and with their authority that these united Colonies are, and have the right to be, free and independent States. We are no longer subjects of the British Crown. All political connection between us and Great Britain is ended. As free and independent States, we have the full power to make war, make peace, form alliances, set up trade, and do everything else independent nations have the right to do. To support this Declaration, trusting in the protection of divine Providence, we pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our honor.

About

The Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia. It was drafted primarily by Thomas Jefferson, with edits by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and others. Fifty-six men signed it, knowing that if the war for independence failed, signing meant they could be tried and executed for treason.

The Declaration is not law. It is not part of the Constitution. Courts do not enforce it. You cannot bring a lawsuit citing the Declaration the way you can cite the First Amendment. What the Declaration is, instead, is a statement of the founding ideas the country said it believed in. The Constitution, written eleven years later in 1787 and ratified in 1789, is the legal document that put a working government in place.

The gap between what the Declaration says and what the country has done in practice has been part of American history from the beginning. Many of the men who signed the Declaration declaring that "all men are created equal" enslaved other human beings. Women, Native Americans, and people without property were not included in the political community the Declaration described. The history of American constitutional law is in large part the history of arguments over whether the country would actually live up to the words in this document. Several constitutional amendments — the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-Fourth, and Twenty-Sixth — were ratified specifically to extend the Declaration's promise to people it originally excluded.

The Declaration also contains a sentence describing Native Americans in language that is now widely condemned as dehumanizing. We have not reproduced that section in plain English on this page. The full original text remains available at the National Archives for anyone who wants to read the document as it was written.