Declaration of Independence

Georgia S.
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  1. Declaration of Independence
    the document recording the proclamation of the second Continental Congress (4 July 1776) asserting the independence of the Colonies from Great Britain
    Declaration of Independence

    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.
  2. Great Britain
    an island comprising England and Scotland and Wales
    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.
  3. Independence
    a city in western Missouri
    Declaration of Independence

    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.
  4. Providence
    the capital and largest city of Rhode Island
    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.
  5. abolish
    do away with
    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 ne...
  6. absolute
    perfect or complete or pure
    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.
  7. absolved
    freed from any question of guilt
    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 the 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...
  8. allegiance
    the act of binding yourself to a course of action
    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 the 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...
  9. alter
    cause to change; make different
    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 ne...
  10. assent
    agree or express agreement
    He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
  11. barbarous
    able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
    He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.
  12. brethren
    the lay members of a male religious order
    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.
  13. colony
    a group of organisms of the same type living together
    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.
  14. declare
    state emphatically and authoritatively
    Declaration of Independence

    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.
  15. despotism
    dominance through threat of punishment and violence
    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.
  16. emigration
    moving from one place in order to settle in another
    We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here.
  17. endeavor
    attempt by employing effort
    He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
  18. endow
    give qualities or abilities to
    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 ne...
  19. endowed
    provided or supplied or equipped with
    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 ne...
  20. equal
    having the same quantity, value, or measure as another
    Declaration of Independence

    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.
  21. foreign
    not deriving from the essential nature of something
    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 ...
  22. government
    the system or form by which a community is ruled
    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 ne...
  23. happiness
    state of well-being characterized by contentment and joy
    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 ne...
  24. independent
    free from external control and constraint
    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 ...
  25. inhabitant
    a person who lives in a particular place
    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 ...
  26. insurrection
    organized opposition to authority
    He has excited domestic insurrection among us, and has endeavored 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.
  27. invasion
    any entry into an area not previously occupied
    He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people.
  28. judiciary
    the system of law courts that administer justice
    He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
  29. jurisdiction
    the territory within which power can be exercised
    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 ...
  30. justice
    the quality of being fair, reasonable, or impartial
    He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
  31. law
    the collection of rules imposed by authority
    Declaration of Independence

    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.
  32. legislature
    an assembly that makes, amends, or repeals laws
    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.
  33. levy
    impose and collect
    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 the 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 ...
  34. magnanimity
    nobility and generosity of spirit
    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.
  35. mercenary
    a person hired to fight for another country than their own
    He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.
  36. naturalization
    the proceeding whereby a foreigner is granted citizenship
    He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
  37. obstruct
    block passage through
    He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
  38. oppression
    the act of subjugating by cruelty
    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.
  39. petition
    a formal request that something be submitted to an authority
    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.
  40. pursuit
    the act of following in an effort to overtake or capture
    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 ne...
  41. relinquish
    turn away from; give up
    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.
  42. representation
    standing in for someone and speaking on their behalf
    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.
  43. representative
    serving to typify
    He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people.
  44. right
    free from error; especially conforming to fact or truth
    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 ne...
  45. self-evident
    evident without proof or argument
    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 ne...
  46. suspend
    bar temporarily
    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.
  47. tyranny
    government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator
    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.
  48. tyrant
    a cruel and oppressive dictator
    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.
  49. unalienable
    incapable of being repudiated or transferred to another
    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 ne...
  50. usurpation
    wrongfully seizing and holding by force
    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.
Created on Mon Nov 07 14:20:25 EST 2011 (updated Mon Nov 07 14:24:13 EST 2011)

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