Read The Declaration of Independence

Independence Day is upon us — this is the date inscribed on the Declaration of Independence and is the day the United States declared its independence from King George III of Britain. If you say you love America this Fourth of July, then this should be something you read and reflect on somewhere amid the hotdogs, hamburgers, and fireworks. This document tells what rights our fonders were fighting for, what tyranny they fought against, and the principles this nation was founded on.

Even if you think you know it, you should read it. Several years ago on July 4th, NPR posted the full text of the Declaration of Independence on Twitter, chunk by chunk, and the responses were — to pull no punches — pathetic. A startling number of Americans did not recognize the text and thought NPR was making a political statement.

This is an old document, and recent research shows that the average American reads at about a 6th grade reading level, so below the text, we have provided an easy-to-read version. You can skip down to that if your eyes glaze over reading the original text.

The Text:

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 and 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. 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.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

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 Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable 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, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. 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.

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.

Signers of the Declaration of Independence

State	Signers
Georgia	Button Gwinnett Lyman Hall George Walton
North Carolina	William Hooper Joseph Hewes John Penn
South Carolina	Edward Rutledge Thomas Heyward, Jr. Thomas Lynch, Jr. Arthur Middleton
Massachusetts	John Hancock Samuel Adams John Adams Robert Treat Paine Elbridge Gerry
Maryland	Samuel Chase William Paca Thomas Stone Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia	George Wythe Richard Henry Lee Thomas Jefferson Benjamin Harrison Thomas Nelson, Jr. Francis Lightfoot Lee Carter Braxton
Pennsylvania	Robert Morris Benjamin Rush Benjamin Franklin John Morton George Clymer James Smith George Taylor James Wilson George Ross
Delaware	Caesar Rodney George Read Thomas McKean
New York	William Floyd Philip Livingston Francis Lewis Lewis Morris
New Jersey	Richard Stockton John Witherspoon Francis Hopkinson John Hart Abraham Clark
New Hampshire	Josiah Bartlett William Whipple Matthew Thornton
Rhode Island	Stephen Hopkins William Ellery
Connecticut	Roger Sherman Samuel Huntington William Williams Oliver Wolcott

What It Means in Today’s Language

Adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776

When a group of people decides to break away from the country they’ve been a part of, and become their own nation, they should explain why they’re doing it. This shows respect to the rest of the world.

We believe these truths are obvious:
All people are created equal.
They are given certain rights by God that no one should take away—such as the right to live, to be free, and to try to be happy.

Governments are created to protect these rights, and their power comes from the people. When a government stops protecting these rights, the people have the right to change it or get rid of it. They can start a new government that will keep them safe and help them live better lives.

People shouldn’t change their government for small or temporary problems. History shows that people will put up with bad situations for a long time rather than make a big change. But when a government keeps hurting its people and taking away their freedom, it’s the people’s right—and even their duty—to get rid of that government and create a better one.

That’s exactly what the 13 American colonies have to do now. The King of Great Britain has been treating us unfairly for a long time. He has tried to control us completely. We can show a long list of ways he’s done this:

• He won’t let us pass our own laws that we need.
• He won’t allow local leaders to make important decisions.
• He forces people to give up their right to be represented in government.
• He makes lawmakers meet in strange, faraway places just to make things hard.
• He keeps dissolving our governments whenever they disagree with him.
• He doesn’t let us elect new leaders, leaving us open to danger.
• He stops people from moving here and becoming citizens.
• He won’t let us set up fair courts.
• He controls the judges and their pay so they do what he wants.
• He sends lots of officials to bother us and take our money.
• He keeps armies here in peacetime without our approval.
• He puts the military above the people.
• He works with other countries to make unfair laws for us.
• He makes us house soldiers in our homes.
• He protects soldiers who hurt our people from being punished.
• He stops us from trading with other countries.
• He taxes us without asking us.
• He takes away our right to a fair trial.
• He sends people far away to be unfairly tried.
• He changes our laws and government systems without our say.
• He cancels our charters and important laws.
• He stops our lawmakers from doing their jobs and says he will do it all instead.
• He declares we are no longer under his protection and then attacks us.
• He burns our towns and kills our people.
• He brings foreign soldiers to hurt and scare us.
• He forces captured Americans to fight against their own country.
• He encourages fights inside our country and wants Native Americans to attack us.

We have asked him to stop, again and again, in peaceful ways. But each time, he has answered with more harm. A ruler who acts like this is not fit to lead free people.

We also tried to talk to the British people. We reminded them of how we came here and asked them to speak out against what was happening. But they ignored us too. So now, we have to separate from them. We’ll treat them like we treat all other countries—enemies in war, friends in peace.

So, we, the representatives of the United States of America, meeting together in Congress, speak for the people of these colonies. We ask God to judge our actions and declare that we are now free and independent states. We no longer owe anything to the King of Britain. We are completely separate.

As free and independent states, we can do everything other countries can—like making war and peace, forming partnerships, and doing business.

And to support this decision, we promise to each other our lives, our money, and our honor.

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What is Civics?: Civics is the study of how the government works and what it means to be a good citizen. It teaches us about our rights and responsibilities, like voting, following laws, and helping our communities. Civics also helps us understand the rules that keep our country running, like the Constitution, and how leaders are chosen to make decisions. Sadly, our schools have failed in the area of teaching the last several generations about civics. In response, The Georgia Sun will regularly educate readers on civics because informed residents and voters who know and understand their rights are the backbone of a truly free society.