Declaration of Independence

Declaring our Independence We could no longer be ignored by the crown Showed what we were hoping for the future Taking the ultimate risk Treason Traitors Death

When was it signed? Signed July 4, 1776 Unanimous declaration of all 13 colonies

What does it even say? Preamble Announcing our independence 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.

What does it even say? Rights of the People and Their Government We have rights When our rights are taken away, we have the right to get rid of the government and create a new one 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.

What does it even say? Efforts to Avoid Separation How the colonists tried to fix it first “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.” Declare That the Colonies are Free and Independent The colonies are done with the British and we are FREE

What does it even say? Tyrannical Acts of the Government Everything the KING did WRONG! “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. For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world. For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.”

Signers Signers Colony Samuel Huntington, Roger Sherman William Williams, Oliver Wolcott CT Thomas McKean, George Read, Caesar Rodney, DE Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton GA John Adams, Samuel Adams, Elbridge Gerry, John Hancock, Treat Robert Paine, MA Charles Carroll, Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, MD Josiah Bartlet, Matthew Thornton, William Whipple, NH

Signers Signer Colony Abraham Clark, John Hart, Francis Hopkinson, Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon NJ William Floyd, Francis Lewis, Phillip Livingston, Lewis Morris, NY Joseph Hewes, William Hooper, John Penn, NC George Clymer, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, John Morton, George Ross, Benjamin Rush, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson PA William Ellery, Stephen Hopkins RI Thomas Heyward Jr, Thomas Lynch Jr, Arthur Middleton, Edward Rutledge SC Carter Braxton, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Jefferson, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Nelson Jr, George Wythe VA