The Declaration of Independence: The Declaration of Independence, List 2

The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776 by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Drafted by Thomas Jefferson, with a preamble by John Adams and editing by Benjamin Franklin and other members of Congress, it outlines the offenses of King George III to justify the vote for independence that had taken place two days earlier. With the colonies already one year into a war, the Declaration closed the door on reconciliation with Great Britain and paved the way for the creation of the United States of America. Read the full text here.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. jurisdiction
    the right and power to interpret and apply the law
    He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution...
  2. impose
    charge and collect payment
    For imposing taxes on us without our Consent...
  3. deprive
    keep from having, keeping, or obtaining
    For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury...
  4. arbitrary
    based on or subject to individual discretion or preference
    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...
  5. abdicate
    give up power, duties, or obligations
    He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
  6. ravage
    make a pillaging or destructive raid on, as in wartime
    He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
  7. desolation
    an event that results in total destruction
    He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny...
  8. perfidy
    betrayal of a trust
    already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy of the Head of a civilized nation.
  9. redress
    act of correcting an error or a fault or an evil
    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.
  10. 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.
  11. consanguinity
    relation by blood
    They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity.
  12. acquiesce
    agree or express agreement
    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.
  13. rectitude
    righteousness as a consequence of being honorable and honest
    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...
  14. absolve
    excuse or free from blame
    ...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...
  15. providence
    a manifestation of God's foresightful care for his creatures
    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.
Created on Thu May 22 16:34:55 EDT 2025

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