Next, we will practice close reading of a document. The document we will read is one of the most significant documents in American, if not human, history: The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America. 

 

DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. THIS WILL LIKELY BE THE MOST DIFFICULT DOCUMENT YOU WILL READ 

 

IF YOU LEARN TO READ THIS, YOU CAN READ ANYTHING!!

 

This was the document that declared (announced) what is known as the American Revolution.

 

• What is a revolution? It can mean either a rebellion or a transformation or a rotation.

 

For example, in reference to an automobile engine, you may have heard the expression RPMs.  This stands for revolutions per minute or how many times the engine turns the crankshaft completely around (rotates) in one minute. In this use, a revolution is a rotation: one turn of the crankshaft.

 

With regard to rotation, I always ask my students how long it takes for the earth to rotate completely around the sun. How long does it take for one full circle? That’s right, one day.

 

When you use the word rotate, as in If the earth rotates around the sun, then one day can be referred to as one rotation. 

 

When you use the word revolve, as in If the earth revolves around the sun, then one day can be referred to as one revolution.

 

In political science or history, a revolution can be a rebellion (an uprising against an existing government) or a transformation (any change in the form of government). 

 

The American Revolution began on July 4, 1776, when the 13 original American Colonies declared independence from England.

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Applying the Steps in the Reading Process

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Step 1: Who are you?

 

Today, reading this selection, you are an individual who is trying to learn standard English, which includes understanding American cultural references.

 

Step 2: Why are you reading this?

 

Right now, you are practicing close reading.  You are reading to learn how to read critically.  We will go through the steps together, in a fashion similar to the reading of the Constitution in the last chapter.  Only this time, we will round out your understanding with some background information.  This will allow you to build the context necessary for the appreciation of American cultural references. 

 

Step 3: Who wrote what are you reading? Consider the source. 

 

This document is a primary source.  The language you are about to read is a modern copy of the original handwritten words. You are presented with the document, my comments and observations, and interesting ideas.  Then there is a complete clean copy of the document, so that you can read it without distraction.

 

This document was written by the members of the Continental Congress, who were representatives of each of the 13 American colonies of the British Empire (which was so large it circled the globe).

The chief author, however, was Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), who ultimately became the third President of the United States (1800 - 1808). 

 

At the time of the writing of the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen American Colonies (all grouped along the east coast of the United States) were part of the British Empire.

 

The economic theory behind colonies was that the mother country (in this case England) was in charge and able to import raw materials (such as sugar, cotton, tobacco and molasses) from the colonies and export manufactured goods back to the colonies. In this way, the mother country was guaranteed to have the raw materials to manufacture what they wanted and markets to sell their manufactured goods.

 

Step 4: How is it written? Observe the structure of what you are reading. 

            What kind of document is it? How is it organized?

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In this case, the document has:

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a title

an introductory first paragraph

a second paragraph

a long list                     

three ending paragraph

 

The title is “The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America”

 

The introductory paragraph states the theory behind their purpose in writing this document (to declare independence from England). 

 

The second paragraph sets forth what the colonists consider to be human rights and explains the general reasons (theory) for the colonists’ desire for independence.                                                           

 

Next the document lists the specific charges against the King of England.

 

The three ending paragraphs summarize the position of the colonists and conclude with their declaration.

 

Step 5: When and why was it written? Understand the context of the document.

 

The head of the British Empire was the King of England. In 1776, this was King George III (1738-1820). He had been king since 1760 and was responsible for all the laws that governed the empire (and, consequently, the quality of life of his subjects). In England itself, the citizens (only those who were free males with property) had some say (representation) in the laws (such as taxes) but most of the power was in the hands of the King. He could, for example, on his own decide what laws applied in the Colonies. 

 

At the time, the colonists were upset with many of the laws that the British King forced on them and the way in which the laws were determined. They were so upset that they decided to declare their independence from England and to establish a new country. This was the first time in modern human history that people voluntarily came together to form a new nation based on law.

 

Step 6: For whom was it written? Understand the intended audience for the document.

 

The immediate audience for the declaration was King George. However, the colonists were writing for the world and for the future.  They knew that what they were doing was new and different (called revolutionary) and they wanted to be sure that the entire world understood the reasons for their actions.  Thus, the declaration states the general theory governing their actions and enumerates (lists) the specific reasons that caused the colonists to behave this way.  The declaration was designed to convince anyone who reads it that the colonists were in the right (that their actions were justified).

 

Step 7: Read the document, sentence by sentence. We will do this together!

 

Step 8: Think about the meaning of each phrase and the complete idea that the sentence is expressing.

 

I have annotated the text (included notes) and explained many of the references and vocabulary.

 

Step 9: Re-read sentences, paragraphs, or pages, as you need to.

 

One of the good things about reading is that you can go back, again and again, to make sure that you understand. Do not be afraid to read this document several times.

 

Step 10: Take notes that address (relate to) why you are reading this.

 

Or, in this case, make sure that you understand both the theory of reading and the content itself.  (Please note that it is not necessary to understand all of the charges in the long list in the middle of the document.)  You should, however, take notes about words that are new to you (so that you can begin to own them) and phrases that are pointed out to be symbolic in American Culture.

 

Next, we will read the document together.  At first, I will explain everything; as we progress, I will explain less and less, allowing you to practice applying the knowledge and skills you are learning.  Good luck!

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The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America

 

The document begins

 

 “IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

 

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,”

 

• First of all, what does in congress mean?

 

A congress is a gathering.  In this case, this was a gathering of representatives of the colonies specifically called together to consider independence from Great Britain.  In congress means that they are all present at the time of the declaration (the moment of signing). 

 

• Next, what is the significance of July 4th?

 

When I ask this in class, I usually hear, The fourth of July, then Independence Day.  Then I ask, Independence from what? and why July 4th? 

Thomas Jefferson

 

I point out to the students that this is the date the document was signed, and the American celebration of Independence Day or July 4th is a celebration of this document and what it meant and continues to mean to the people of this country and the world (freedom).

 

What does the word unanimous mean? [Look it up!] It means everyone agrees (uncontested).  In this case, all thirteen states (also called colonies) agreed on this declaration. At this point I ask my students to list the thirteen original colonies I usually tell them to look this up in an encyclopedia or on the Internet (world wide web). 

[You should do this!]

 

• What is a declaration? Look it up! It is a statement, an announcement, or a proclamation.

 

The document continues:

 

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 the word course mean as used here? Look it up! 

 

Please note that this is not the word coarse, a homonym that means rough or crude or rude. Look it up! The word course means path or way or road (as in golf course).

 

So, what do you think the phrase “When in the course of human events” means?  It means the road that the nation has traveled through time or when in human history.

 

• What does the phrase “one people” mean? 

 

I know what a person is: a person is an individual. And I know that persons is the plural of person, as in, “I gave my telephone number to two persons.” (This is not a common usage, but acceptable.) And I know what people means; it means more than one person. I could as easily write, “I gave my telephone number to two people.”

 

But what does a people mean? It refers to the inhabitants of an area or a group of people who share a common culture, heritage, language and/or customs. 

 

Here, the phrase a people means the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies.  This document is identifying them or defining them as one group with similar interests. Remember we the people from the Constitution? Here a people’ is used in a similar fashion: we the people and a people refer to the same people, the citizens of the United States. A people in the Declaration became we the people in the Constitution.

 

• What does the word dissolve mean? [Look it up!] 

 

One meaning is to disband or break up. That is the meaning in this case.

 

Another meaning of the word is scientific: When you put sugar in your coffee, for example, it dissolves or becomes part of the solution (coffee and water).  The sugar is said to dissolve into the coffee. It disappears. (If you put so much sugar in your coffee that it can’t dissolve any more, you have saturated the solution. An if you heat that and more sugar dissolves, you have a super-saturated solution!)

 

• What does the word “bands” means as used here? [Look it up!]

 

A band could be a stripe, a strip, a belt, or a ring, as in a band of color along the wall. Or, commonly, a band is a group that plays music, isn’t it? Band has another meaning, however, to pull together or to be together.  A musical band is called a band because all of the musicians play together.  They have banded together to create music. A wedding ring is called a wedding band as it signifies the joining together of two people. It is this sense of the word band that is used here: a union or a bond.

 

What does the phrase “political bands” mean in this context? If a wedding ring symbolizes a band of love (or a bond of love), then political band would be the power bond between the colonies and the mother country (between America and England). Political refers to politics, which is the study of power and power relationships. Therefore, political bands means the power relationship or bond between the two countries.

 

Therefore, dissolving the political bands which have connected them with another means that the colonies would no longer be colonies of England, but, together would form a new, independent country (that is, the United States).

 

• What does the word “assume” mean?  Look it up!

 

It means to take upon oneself. For example, I can assume the responsibility of looking up these words in the dictionary.  That means I take it upon myself to be responsible for this and to do it.

 

• What does the phrase “among the powers of the earth” mean? 

 

Does it refer to wind and rain and rivers and oceans and sunlight? These are all powers in that they are powerful? No!

 

Once again, this is a political document; therefore “power” as used here, refers to politics. In political science, a power is a country with military (or economic or social) force. The powers of the earth refers (chiefly) to the European nations that existed at the time (which included England, France, Spain, Portugal, Russia, and Austria).

 

• What does the word “station” mean? Look it up!  

 

Most commonly, today, when we hear the word station, we think of a train stop or bus depot. Yet this word also means position or post or rank’

 

Therefore, the phrase separate and equal station means that the new country which has declared itself to be independent (by cutting or severing the political bonds between themselves and England) should have the same respect as every other independent nation.

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Earning the respect of other countries was very important to Jefferson and the other signers of the Declaration of Independence. Much of the language used and the argument that the Declaration puts forth (presents) is designed to convince the world that the colonists were correct in their actions and were therefore worthy of the respect of other countries.

 

The new country (the United States) was called an experiment in democracy.  The people of the colonies were taking a great chance: war with England could end in their deaths or imprisonment. If they were able to have the support of some of the other ‘powers’, then perhaps they could succeed in their effort to be independent of England. (In fact, England’s greatest enemy of the time was France, and France did help the American colonists in their war of independence from England).

 

• What does the phrase “To which the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God entitle them” mean?  

 

First, the word “entitle”; what does it mean? [Look it up!] It means give the right or permit.

 

Second, what does the phrase Laws of Nature mean?  This is one of Jefferson’s appeals to an authority.  You will recall that the proving process included the ability to rely on an accepted authority to determine the truth (or judge the facts) of a situation. In this case, Jefferson is invoking (calling upon) the idea that the natural world (Nature) has certain ways of operating (called laws). The appeal is to science and scientific fact: a law of nature is a scientific fact, as in the law of gravity (which Galileo is said to have been experimenting with at the Tower of Pisa, you may recall).  In slang, this is often expressed as: what goes up must come down. 

 

This idea was that using scientific concepts and using scientific language would generate a certain respect for what is said.

 

Now, who is “Nature’s God”?  

 

Please notice that the word God begins with a capital G. This is not simply the custom of the time, as it is with the other nouns. In English, we always capitalize the word God when we are referring to the Judeo-Christian God of the Bible (New and Old Testaments; Jehovah or Jesus).  When referring to other gods or when discussing, for example, the gods of ancient Greece, the word god or gods is not capitalized.

 

This is another appeal to an authority: in this case religion. Jefferson is taking no chances with his audience.  He wants everyone to understand that both scientific fact and religious belief allow their actions (declaring independence).

 

In other words, not only is what they are doing consistent with the laws of nature (science) but these actions are also consistent with nature’s God (religion).  Jefferson was seeking to head off the criticism that the revolutionaries were doing something unnatural or heretical [Look it up!] which means doing or believing something that is not accepted by the established religion or culture.

 

• What does the phrase “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind” mean?

 

Here the authors of the Declaration come out and say that they are trying to earn the respect of all of humankind by showing similar respect. When he writes a decent respect for he is saying that the people of the United States respect the opinions of all others.

 

• And now the phrase “requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation”?

 

What does impel mean? [Look it up!] Impel means to push or hurl or drive or throw. The chief element here is that the force comes from within someone. Another word, compel, also means to force or push or drive; however, the emphasis is on someone or something from the outside exerting the pressure on someone or something.

 

Consequently, the phrase means they are required to state the reasons which drive them to the separation.

 

This first sentence states the purpose of the declaration; which is to explain to the world why the colonists are declaring independence from Great Britain.

 

The document continues:

 

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.

 

• What is meant by truths? 

 

We discussed truth in Chapter IV. Here truths is used to the define ideas that the revolutionaries believed to be unquestionable facts or part of the condition of being human.

 

• What is meant by self-evident? [Look it up!]

 

It means obvious or clear.  In contemporary slang, they are saying, this is the way it is.

 

• What are these truths? The first is “that all men are created equal”.

 

Notice the word created. Not born equal, but created. I ask you, created by whom?  By the creator who is none other than God! Once again, Jefferson is appealing to the authority of God.

 

“Created equal”: Does this mean everyone is the same?  No!  By equal, the authors of the Declaration meant equal before the law or equal in the eyes of the government (and certainly equal in the eyes of God). Equality before the law was important to the colonists, who were complaining that they were not treated as the equals of the King’s subjects living in England.

 

This is one of the most famous phrases in this document. It was also one of the most dangerous phrases in the document. The King of England was King, after all, because his father was: the leadership of Britain was hereditary (passed on by birth and approved by God). In addition to the King, there were other Lords with hereditary titles (and wealth, power and privileges). There were Dukes and Earls and Viscounts and many other titles. And this was true in all of the countries of Europe.

 

To say that all men are created equal is to directly challenge the basis of power of all these members of the aristocracy (ruling class). It specifically says that every human being is born with the same rights as any other (including the King!). But the King rules because, the theory says, long ago his ancestors were chosen by God because of their superiority (this theory is sometimes called ‘the divine right of kings). To say all men are created equal is to directly challenge this justification for the King’s power. 

 

Notice that the phrase is all men. At this time, and for the next two hundred years, it was acceptable to say all men when one really meant all human beings.  It was not until the 1960’s that the idea that such usage was sexist language emerged.  Today, it is more acceptable to say humankind rather than mankind, for example.

 

At the time, women were not considered to be the equals of men. They were considered to be property under the law. They did not have equal rights with regard to property, business and the law. Neither did slaves (Africans forcibly brought to America to work in the fields of the southern states and for other purposes) who were considered to be the property of their masters. 

 

There is much debate in historical circles about the fact that Jefferson himself owned slaves (on his plantation in Virginia) and that this statement seems to contradict his words.

 

• Now let us tackle the phrase: 

“that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights”

 

Who is they?  They refers to all men or all humans.

 

What does endowed mean? Look it up! It means gifted as in having received the gift of. Once again, it is God, the Creator, who has given all men these rights.

 

 Certain in this usage, means specific and not the usual meaning of sure. [Look it up!]

 

What does “unalienable” mean?  

 

This word contains the smaller word alien, which means foreign. These days we hear about legal and illegal aliens, meaning people who were not born in the United States but in foreign countries: foreigners or aliens. The term alien is also used to refer to things that originate off of the planet earth. In this sense, the word unalienable (these days spelled inalienable, look it up!) means inseparable or cannot be taken away from something without changing it completely.

 

 Unalienable means undeniable. These rights are part of the condition of being human. Human beings cannot be denied these rights by other human beings because God has given these rights to all people. Once again, the appeal (and the argument) is to the authority of God.

 

• Now the rights: “that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

 

What is meant by Life or right to life? You may have heard that phrase used by pro-life advocates (anti-abortionists) as opposed to a woman’s right to choose. In this case, it means very simply that people have a right to be alive. They cannot be killed or neglected. They have the right to live.

 

And they have the right to Liberty, which most students answer means freedom. In this case, liberty means freedom with the law, one law for all, and that no one is above the law. This is a very limited type of freedom. It is not autonomy (self-rule), which is the type of freedom that kings, dictators and tyrants have.

 

And they have the right to the pursuit of Happiness.  What can that be?

 

In one of the early drafts, this phrase was the right to property. At the time, however, few of the residents of the colonies owned property (land, slaves, and material goods).  Thus, the phrase was changed to Pursuit of Happiness because this included everybody!

 

In the Bill of Rights, however, you may recall, the phrase used was “life, liberty and property.”

 

Today we speak of quality of life and life style, which are perhaps is the closest modern equivalent to Pursuit of Happiness. The authors of the Declaration were saying that all citizens have the right to live the way they choose and to seek out that which makes them happy.

 

The document continues:

 

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 secure mean? [Look it up!] It means to make safe, protect or to keep safe.

 

• The phrase to secure these rights means ‘to make sure that these rights are protected. 

 

Protecting the rights of the citizens from abuses by the government was the whole idea here!

 

• What does institute mean?  [Look it up!] It means to establish or create. 

 

• Why are governments created? To secure these rights. (Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Happiness)

 

In other words, the purpose of government is to protect the rights of the people. Notice, it is not to maintain the power of the ruling class of aristocracy or to enrich or make the King happy.  

 

• What does deriving mean? To derive means to originate or arise or come from. Deriving means getting from or coming from.

 

• What does the word just mean here?

It does not mean simply or merely’ or only which are some of the most common uses of the word.  Here just relates to the concept of justice, which means what is right, moral and correct.  Sometimes students say it means what is fair.

 

• Their just powers means that the citizenry recognizes that the government has the power to enforce its laws, and indicates that the citizens will obey these laws because they are just.

 

• Where do these just powers come from (from where are they derived)?  The answer is from the consent of the governed.

 

• What does consent mean?  It means permission or approval.

 

• Who are the governed? The governors are the people of the government who exercise decision-making power.  The governed are those people for whom the government makes decisions.  The governed are the citizens.

 

Therefore, from the consent of the governed, means that the power of government comes from the permission of the citizens.

 

This is the truest sense of revolution: to turn upside down.  The power in the traditional monarchy (kingship) rests in the top: in the hands of the King.  Here, the Declaration states that the only reason for a government is to protect the rights of the people and that the legitimacy or legality of the government comes from the permission of the people.

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• What about the next clause: ‘That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends’?

‘That whenever’ indicates that this is a conditional sentence: it addresses a situation that might happen.  (Of course, in this case, the colonists are really saying that this is the actual situation they face, not just a possibility.)

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any Form of Government means any government

destructive of means unhelpful to or damaging

these ends means the ends or goals of the government.  What is the goal or purpose of government? It is to protect the rights of the citizens to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

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The clause means that whenever a specific government is not operating (acting) to protect the rights of the citizens.

Here, Jefferson is once again describing the situation the colonists find themselves in and is offering a justification (a reason) for the revolutionary acts.

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• The next clause is: “it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government”

 

Here, the people gain another right: whenever the government is not protecting their rights, the people have the right to alter or abolish the government.

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What does alter mean?  It means to change.

What does abolish mean? It means to put an end to or terminate.

And the people have yet another right: to institute new Government!

Remember, institute means to establish or create. To institute new government means to create a new government (after the old one is abolished).

 

“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.”

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laying its foundation: its’ refers to the new government

foundation means the basis upon which the government is organized and operated

powers refers to the legal authority that the government will exercise

effect means to result in or to cause (try to distinguish this from affect) [Look it up!]

When a new government is to be established by the people, then it should be formed in accordance with the people’s idea of safety and happiness.

 

The document continues:

 

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. 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.

 

• Let us tackle the clause: “Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes”

 

Prudence means caution or good sense

indeed means in truth or truthfully or in fact

dictate means require or determine

governments long established means governments that have existed for a long time

transient means temporary or passing

causes here means reasons

 

Paraphrased, this clause means: “Good sense demands that existing governments should not be changed for unimportant reasons.” In other words, if you are going to change the government, make sure it is for a good reason!

 

• “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”

 

accordingly means therefore, so, or for this reason

hath shewn is old English for has shown

disposed means willing or inclined (as in, leaning in that direction)

abolish means to eliminate

accustomed means familiar with

 

Paraphrased: “and, so, all experience has shown that people will continue to suffer for a very long time (as long as they can put up with it) rather than help themselves by changing things they are familiar with.”

 

•  “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism,”

 

This is another conditional sentence, beginning with the words ‘but when’.  Once again, the colonists are referring to their own situation.

 

A long train does not refer to a railway train! 

It means procession or convoy or line or string or series.

 

abuse means mistreatment or neglect or misuse

to usurp means to seize or steal or grab or take over or appropriate

usurpations are the results of these actions

pursuing means following or seeking or aiming at

invariably means without varying or without changing

Object here means end or goal

to evince means to prove or show or demonstrate

a design here means a plan

absolute means total or complete

Despotism means tyranny or dictatorship or repression

 

Paraphrased: “However, when there have been many, many such offenses that all seem designed to produce the same end, that is, the complete subjugation of the people…”

 

•  “it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

 

Once again, the people have additional rights.  This time, however, the rights are a duty or responsibility as well. Now the people have the responsibility to throw off such government.  (In this case, clearly they mean the government of King George III.) What is more, they have the responsibility to set up a new government and laws (new guards) to protect their future.

 

The document continues:

 

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. 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. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

 

•  “Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies”

 

such means this is the case now 

 

patient (as an adjective) means tolerant; it is the ability not become angry or annoyed or worried about something when experiencing conflict or issues or unexpected delays 

 

Note: patience (as a noun) means endurance or the capacity to be tolerant of conflict or issues or unexpected delays and not become angry or annoyed or worried about it.  

 

Note: these words should not be confused with a patient, a noun, which also means a sick person in a hospital, or patients which means two or more sick people.

 

sufferance: to suffer means to endure, go through or put up with

            sufferance means endurance

 

Paraphrased: “This is what the colonists have suffered.”

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​ “and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.”

 

To constrain can mean to limit, restrain, hold back, confine, hamper or hinder. In this case which constrains them means which limits them (meaning that the colonists have no other choice).

 

To constrain can mean to oblige, force, compel, or pressure. In this case, which constrains them means which forces them (also meaning that the colonists have no other choice).

 

alter means change or adjust or amend,

(not to be confused with altar, the place where one worships or where one stands during a marriage ceremony)

 

Paraphrased: “and this need limits their choice to changing the existing government”. 

Or

“and this need forces them to change the existing government”.

 

At this point the document continues by listing the oppressive things (the long train of abuses) that King George caused or allowed. We will not review them all (which are included in the full text below) but I have selected a few:

 

“He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.”

 

Paraphrased: “The King has refused to agree to laws that are good for the colonists.”

 

“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.”
 

Paraphrased: “The King has prevented important laws from being implemented until he agrees to them and then he doesn’t decide.”

 

“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.”
 

Paraphrased; “The King will not pass laws which are important for large numbers of colonists unless they give up their right to have a say in who represents them; and this is something only a dictator would do.”

 

“He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.”

 

Note the use of affected meaning caused (from to affect or cause; contrast with effect meaning result). Look these words up!

 

Paraphrased: “The King has caused the army to be above the law.”

 

“For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us.”

Quartering does not mean dividing into four parts.  Here it means providing room and board. In this case, free room and board. The King’s soldiers were housed in the colonists’ homes and the colonists had to feed them. There was no payment for this.

 

“For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.
 

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury.

 

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.”

 

The document continues:

 

“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. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.”

 

 redress means to put right or make right or to ‘ectify

 

Paraphrased: “All along, the colonists asked modestly for remedies but their requests were not granted and the problems continued. A ruler who continues to do these things to his subjects is a dictator and unsuitable as the ruler of a free people.”

 

The document continues:

 

“Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. 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. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. 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.”

 

Paraphrased: “The colonists have tried to communicate these facts to the British: that the legislature has tried to pass unjust laws.  They have discussed the past history, that they were promised full rights of Englishmen when they settled in the colonies.  They have even appealed to their sense of right and wrong, but without success. Therefore, they are doing what they must, separating from England, and become a new nation, which can be either enemy or friend.”

 

The document continues:

 

“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 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 Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. 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.”

 

Paraphrased: “We, the authorized and assembled representatives of the United States, while appealing to God for the correctness of our purpose, do declare that these states are a free and independent nation; that all citizens are free of any obligation to the King of England, that all political connections between the two countries is ended, and that the new nation has the right to wage war, conclude peace, contract alliances, trade and do anything else a country might want to do. And to support this declaration, we pledge our lives, our futures and our honor.”

 

The document ends with the signatures of the representatives. (See the end of the full text which follows).  

 

One signer, John Hancock, signed his name in a very large script and, it is said, he stated, “I will sign my name so large that King George can read it without his spectacles!”

 

To this day, the phrase, ‘put your John Hancock on it” means to sign your name on a document.

 

At this point I usually ask my students to write.  You can do this now or wait until after the next chapter:

 

Please practice your reading and writing skills by writing either a partial paraphrase of the Declaration or your own Declaration of Independence (for example, as a student, a child, a parent, a citizen of your city or state).

 

Declaration of Independence

Full Text (with the names of the signers and the states they represented):

 

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.  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.

 

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. 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. 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. 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. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

 

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
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.
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. 
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. 
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
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 migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
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 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 neighboring 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:  For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
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. 
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 & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
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. 
He has incited domestic insurrections amongst 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.

 

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. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. 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. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. 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.

 

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 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 Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. 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. 

 

The following 56 signatures appear on the Declaration:

 

Connecticut: Samuel Huntington, Roger Sherman, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Massachusetts:  John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry 

New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark 

New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross 

Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr, Thomas Lynch, Jr, Arthur Middleton 

Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr, Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton