On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress of the United States adopted a document declaring that the Thirteen Colonies, which had been at war with Great Britain for over a year, were no longer part of the British Empire, but were “free and independent states“.
This document is called the Declaration of Independence of the United States.
The Declaration was written primarily by Thomas Jefferson and provides a formal explanation of the reasons why Congress voted to declare independence.
The birthday of the United States - Independence Day - is celebrated on July 4, the day on which the text of the Declaration was approved by Congress.
After signing the text on July 4, Congress circulated the Declaration in several forms. It was immediately published in print and widely distributed to the public. The best-known version of the declaration, a copy of the signed manuscript, is on display in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Although the document was approved by Congress on July 4, the date of signing is disputed. Some historians believe that the Declaration was signed almost a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776.
On the night of July 4–5, 150–200 copies of the text of the Declaration were printed, and it was soon distributed and read throughout the Thirteen Colonies. The first official public reading of the document took place on July 8 in Independence Hall in Philadelphia, with public readings taking place in other states on the same day.
On July 9, the Declaration was read to the soldiers of Gen. George Washington in New York City, while British forces were nearby. After hearing the Declaration, crowds in many cities tore down and destroyed signs and statues representing royal authority. The equestrian statue of King George III in New York City was torn down and the lead used to cast bullets. The text of the Declaration was published in London newspapers in mid-August.
On July 19, Congress ordered a carefully written copy, entitled “The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America“ to be prepared for signature. The Declaration of Independence was signed on August 2, 1776. The total number of signatories was 56, but some of them added their signatures later.
Unanimous Declaration of the 13 United States of America
When in the course of human history it becomes necessary for one people to break the political chains which have bound them to another, and to obtain from all earthly powers that independent and equal status to which the laws of nature and God entitle them, decency, respect for the opinion of mankind, requires that they declare the reasons which compelled them to separate themselves.
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. And to secure these rights, men institute a government, deriving its just authority from the consent of the governed.
We think that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of this end, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such manner, as shall seem to them most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Indeed, as prudence would dictate, governments long established ought not to be altered for trifling or transitory causes; and, as experience has shown, mankind is more disposed to suffer evils while they are still tolerable, than to correct them by destroying the system to which they are accustomed.
But when a long series of abuses and plunders, always pursuing the same object, show that a people is in danger of being placed under the power of an absolute despotism, then it is their right and their duty to reject such government, and to choose new guardians of their future security. So patiently have our colonies suffered, and such is the necessity which now compels them to alter the former system of government.
The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of incessant wrongs and plunder, the direct object of which is to establish an absolute tyranny over our states. In proof of this, let us acquaint the impartial world with the facts.
He refused to sign laws that were extremely healthy and necessary for the public good. He forbade his governors from passing laws of immediate and urgent importance, ordering them to be considered invalid until his consent was obtained; and in declaring these laws invalid, he forgot to remember them at all. He refused to recognize other laws for the settlement of the affairs of large masses of the people, on condition that these people should cede their right of representation in the Legislature, a right invaluable to them, but terrible to tyrants.
He convened the legislatures in inconvenient and unusual places, remote from the repositories of their public records, for the sole purpose of inducing them to bow to his decisions. He repeatedly dissolved the Houses of Representatives, because with manly firmness they opposed his encroachments on the rights of the people. After such dissolutions he for a long time refused to elect new ones; therefore, the legislative power, which was not subject to abolition, was in many places regained by the people; but the state at the same time remained exposed to the threat of foreign interference and internal disturbances.
He did everything to make things difficult for the population of our states, and to this end he opposed the laws for the naturalization of foreigners, refused to recognize another law that would encourage their settlement in our places, and set conditions for new appropriations of lands. He hindered the legal authorities by refusing to recognize the law establishing the judiciary. The judges had to rely solely on his will for their mandates and for the amount and payment of their salaries.
He created many new offices and sent crowds of officials to harass the population and eat their bread. In time of peace he maintained standing armies in our country without the consent of our legislation. He has done everything to make the military independent of the civil power, and to place them above it. He has entered into an agreement with others to subject us to a jurisdiction alien to our constitution, and unrecognized by our laws, by giving his consent to every provision of this fictitious legislation:
The stationing of considerable bodies of military force. Their protection by farce of the courts from all punishment for the murders they may commit upon the inhabitants of our states. He has passed a law for cutting off our commerce with all parts of the world. For laying taxes without our consent. For depriving us in many cases of the right of trial by jury.
For transporting our citizens beyond the sea, to be tried there for non-existent offenses. For abolishing the free system of English law in a neighboring province, by establishing there a temporary government, and so extending its boundaries as to make it an example and a convenient instrument for introducing the same absolute power into our colonies. For the taking away of our charters, the abolishing of our most cherished laws, and a radical reorganization of the forms of our government.
For the dissolution of our own legislatures. He has renounced his authority here, declared us beyond his protection, and waged war against us. He has invaded our waters, plundered our coasts, burned our cities, and taken the lives of our citizens. At this very moment he is sending vast armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, devastation, and tyranny, already begun with such cruelty and perfidy as would scarcely be found in the most barbarous ages, and utterly unworthy of the head of a civilized nation.
He compels our countrymen, taken captive on the high seas, to turn their arms against their own country, to become the executioners of their comrades and brothers, or to fall by their hands. He incites internal rebellions against us, and endeavors to incite the inhabitants of the frontier regions, the ruthless Indian savages, whose well-known rules of war include the indiscriminate slaughter of persons of every age, sex, and condition.
In all cases of this oppression we have sent petitions for redress and correction in the most humble tones. But to our innumerable petitions the answer has always been fresh wrongs. A monarch whose nature every act can be defined as tyrannical is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. We have not been left to the sympathy of our English brethren. We have warned them from time to time of the attempts of their legislation to impose upon us an inadmissible jurisdiction. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here.
We have appealed to their innate justice and generosity, we have entreated them in the name of the ties of kinship to renounce those encroachments which would inevitably terminate our connections and concord. But they too have remained deaf to the voice of justice and blood. Therefore, silently accepting necessity, we are bound to declare our separation, and to receive them henceforth, like the rest of mankind, as enemies in war and friends in peace.
Therefore, we, the representatives of the United States of America, assembled in General Congress, do call upon the supreme judge of the world to bless the righteousness of our intentions, and in the name and by the will of the good people who inhabit our colonies, do solemnly write and declare that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are freed from all dependence upon the British Crown, and that all political connections between them and the State of Great Britain are and ought to be completely severed; and that as free and independent States they have every right to declare war, make peace, enter into alliances, enter into commercial relations, and do all other acts and things which independent States are entitled to do.
And in support of this Declaration, trusting firmly to the support of divine providence, we mutually swear by our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.