Declaration of Independence Vocabulary

Cyndi S.
19 words 36 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. sufferable
    capable of being borne though unpleasant
    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.
  2. 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
  3. constrain
    hold back
    has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.
  4. 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.--Such
  5. abolish
    do away with
    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.
  6. consanguinity
    relation by blood
    They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity.
  7. disavow
    refuse to acknowledge
    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.
  8. depository
    a facility for storage or safekeeping
    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.
  9. impel
    urge or force to an action; constrain or motivate
    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.
  10. abdicate
    give up power, duties, or obligations
    He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
  11. unwarrantable
    incapable of being justified or explained
    We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us.
  12. naturalization
    the proceeding whereby a foreigner is granted citizenship
    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.
  13. sufferance
    patient endurance especially of pain or distress
    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. ravage
    cause extensive destruction or ruin utterly
    He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
  15. absolved
    freed from any question of guilt
    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
  16. inhabitant
    a person who lives in a particular place
    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
  17. assent
    agree or express agreement
    He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
  18. law of nature
    a generalization that describes recurring facts or events in nature
    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.
  19. 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
Created on Tue Oct 15 10:58:34 EDT 2013

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