We indie

Declaration of Independence

TL;DR?

Find a full transcription of the original Declaration of Independence here. Read on for a modernized and distilled version.

Sometimes people reject an established political authority that they had for a time in the majority agreed to follow. Here’s why we did.

Obviously human beings are created equal, inheriting unalienable rights, among them Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

People institute governments to secure those rights and produce the best chances for Safety and Happiness. Government power starts and ends with the consent of the people. If government fails in these regards, it is the Right of the People to change or abolish it and institute new forms of government.

Prudence dictates that we not change or abolish long-established governments for slight or short-lived causes. Plus, people are naturally averse to change.

But when a long train of abuses clearly aims to impose tyrannous rule, people have both the right and the duty to throw off such government and make sure the same thing can’t happen again.

We were prudent—now we’re throwing off the British government. King George III is a total jerk for (at least) 27 reasons:

• 1-10, 21-22) He interferes with our local governance in a bunch of ways.
• 11-12, 14-15) He keeps active duty soldiers hanging around and shields them from any and all accountability.
• 13, 17) He taxes us while we are unrepresented in British government.
• 18-19) He has denied us right to trial by jury and abducted us to be tried in England and other countries.
• 20) Something about “The Quebec Act” of 1774, French-Canadians and the Catholic-Protestant divide.
• 23-27) He declared war on us. His officers have engaged in acts of war; they have attempted to instigate slave revolts and assist hostile American Indians.

We asked nicely for him to stop and his attacks intensified. He’s a Tyrant, unfit to rule a free people.

We haven’t forgotten the British people. We told them what their government has been up to here and they have turned a blind eye. So despite our former ties, if they side with the King, they are our enemies while we are at war. In peacetime, we can consider them friends.

For all these reasons, we declare that we are free and independent states, with no allegiance or political connection to the British Crown.