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“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.”

With these words, the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, the American colonies officially declared their independence from England. The colonists had many grievances against the manner in which the British governed their homes, their businesses and lives. After many years of Americans petitioning the British for relief from high taxes, limited freedoms and the presence of armed British troops, the British government responded by sending more war ships and more armed men, forcing the colonists to board the soldiers in their homes.


These, among others, are the grievances which led the American colonies to rebellion.
In 1776, armed conflict was raging. The British Parliament was determined to force the colonists to accept British rule, and talk of independence was gaining momentum as the American army suffered defeat after defeat to the English.

In June, the Continental Congress met to consider the issue of independence, and the individual colonies sent their representatives to the Congress with instructions to vote for independence. Richard Henry Lee of Virginia put forth a resolution, which in part said, “…that these united colonies are and ought to be free, independent states, that they are absolved the largest on the document. He explained his over- sized signature by stating that he wanted King George to be able to read it without his spectacles. The declaration was then sent to the printer for publication. Eventually, fifty six delegates signed the document.
As news of the Declaration spread throughout the colonies, Americans rallied to the cause of independence and the momentum of the war took on a more personal urgency. A just cause had been declared and the country came one step closer to complete independence.
The war would rage on for several years, but by officially declaring their independence from Britain, the colonists charted a course which would lead to the establishment of the United States of America.

Thomas Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration included a list of grievances against the King of England, and set forth the ideals upon which the new nation would form. He declared the ‘right of revolution,’ meaning that people have certain natural rights, and when government violates those rights, the people have the right, indeed the responsibility, to throw off that government. These rights are clearly laid out in the language of the Declaration:

“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 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 affect 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 has shown, (sic) that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the 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.”
But not everyone supported declaring independence. Several colonial representatives argued that an independence declaration was premature, that the colonies should firm up allies and develop foreign aid, that a declaration of independence would backfire and anger the British who would send even more warships and troops into the colonies. Because of this disagreement among the representatives, Richard Henry Lee’s resolution was shelved for three weeks while the attendees returned home for further instructions. In the meantime, a committee of five men was given the task of drafting a declaration of independence in the event Lee’s resolution was ultimately passed by the colonies. The “Committee of Five” included John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Robert B. Livingston of New York and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. 


The committee met and forged an outline that the declaration should follow, and charged Thomas Jefferson with the task of writing the first draft. After some changes were agreed upon, Jefferson finished the document and it was presented to the Congress on June 28th. It was entitled, “A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled.”

Congress ordered the draft to be tabled until a Congressional Committee could debate the declaration and come to an acceptable conclusion. On July 1st the committee passed the declaration with nine votes and it was presented to the full Congress on July 2nd. It was passed with a vote of twelve for and one abstention. (The New York delegation was not authorized to vote for independence, although that state permitted them to vote for it a week later, making the vote unanimous.)

The full Congress, having voted for independence, then debated the document itself, approving it after a few changes on July 4, 1776. It was signed by representatives of the colonies, most notable John Hancock, whose signature stands out as
forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably
the same object evinces (sic) 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.”

Today, we have grown up under these ideals, we have studied the history of the forming of our government, have lived under that form of government for over two hundred years, and are quite accustomed to it. But in 1776, the concept that government derives its power from the consent of the governed was, indeed, a revolutionary notion. No government in the history of the world had ever been constructed or conceived that derived its authority from the people. The framers of the Declaration of Independence, and subsequently the United States Constitution labored to ensure that future generations would live and prosper under just such ideals.

This concept, these high ideals, however, have become lost in a flood of big government interference in our lives. The Congress of the United States has the lowest approval rating (under 20%) in its history. People are becoming disenfranchised; they are no longer studying American History because it is no longer taught in our schools; they have lost sight of the concepts put forth in the Declaration, and feel powerless to effect change. The politicians realize this, and that is why they continue down the path to totalitarianism, flagrantly defying the will of the people.

Two hundred and thirty four years after the publication of the Declaration of Independence, Americans are once again suffering under the hand of despotism. It is a different type of despotism, and that is the despotism of an out of control, ever growing central government that is insensitive to the rights and happiness of the American people. We have the right, as stated in our Declaration of Independence, to “throw off such government, and to provide new guards for our future security.”