The Declaration of Independence is one of the most important documents in the history of the United States. It was an official act taken by all 13 American colonies in declaring independence from British rule.
People in the colonies were unhappy that they did not have a say in their government and still had to pay taxes. The Stamp Act of 1765 collected taxes on paper goods like legal documents, newspapers, and playing cards. In one act of protest, men dumped the cargo of a ship full of British tea into Boston Harbor in 1773; this is now called the Boston Tea Party. In 1775, the colonists went to war with Great Britain.
The war between the colonies and Great Britain was called the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). A group of men came together in the summer of 1776 to find ways to become independent from Great Britain. The committee included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman.
Writing the Declaration of IndependenceThe Declaration of Independence was originally written by Thomas Jefferson. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Jefferson then worked together to make changes to the document. The final draft of the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776, but the actual signing of the final document was on August 2, 1776.
Writing and signing the Declaration of Independence took courage, but it was an important step in the founding of our Government. A famous phrase from the Declaration is “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.”
Declaration of Independence facts and figures:
- John Hancock was the first to sign. His signature was so large and bold that people use ‘John Hancock’ to mean a signature.
- The Declaration of Independence is on public display in the Rotunda of the National Archives in Washington, DC.
To learn more, see The Charters of Freedom and 100 Milestone Documents sites from the National Archives.
The Declaration of Independence (1776) built on the American settlers' common goals of unity, freedom and protection of individual rights. The Declaration's clarion call to self-government and freedom began the nation. From the Declaration of Independence the nation continued to build an American society governed not by man, but by common rules of law.
The Declaration of Independence
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 sand 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; 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.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free People.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.