123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177178179180181182183184185186187188189190191192193194195196197198199200201202203204205206207208209210211212213214215216217218219220221222223224225226227228229230231232233234235236237238239240241242243244245246247248249250251252253254255256257258259260261262263264265266267268269270271272273274275276277278279280281282283284285286287288289290291292293294295296297298299300301302303304305306307308309310311312313314315316317318319320321322323324325326327328329330331332333334335336337338339340341342343344345346347348349350351352353354355356357358359360361362363364365366367368369370371372373374375376377378379380381382383384385386387388389390391392393394395396397398399400401402403404405406407408409410411412413414415416417418419420421422423424425426427428429430431432433434435436437438439440441442443444445446447448449450451452453454455456457458459460461462463464465466467468469470471472473474475476477478479480481482483484485486487488489490491492493494495496497498499500501502503504505506507508509510511512513514515516517518519520521522523524525526527528529530531532533534535536537538539540541542543544545546547548549550551552553554555556557558559560561562563564565566567568 |
- The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Declaration of Independence
- Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
- copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing
- this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
- This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
- Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
- header without written permission.
- Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
- eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
- important information about your specific rights and restrictions in
- how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
- donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
- **Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
- **eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
- *****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
- Title: The Declaration of Independence
- Release Date: December, 1971 [EBook #1]
- [Most recently updated: November 25, 2004]
- Edition: 12
- Language: English
- Character set encoding: ASCII
- ***
- The United States Declaration of Independence was the first Etext
- released by Project Gutenberg, early in 1971. The title was stored
- in an emailed instruction set which required a tape or diskpack be
- hand mounted for retrieval. The diskpack was the size of a large
- cake in a cake carrier, cost $1500, and contained 5 megabytes, of
- which this file took 1-2%. Two tape backups were kept plus one on
- paper tape. The 10,000 files we hope to have online by the end of
- 2001 should take about 1-2% of a comparably priced drive in 2001.
- This file was never copyrighted, Sharewared, etc., and is thus for
- all to use and copy in any manner they choose. Please feel free to
- make your own edition using this as a base.
- In my research for creating this transcription of our first Etext,
- I have come across enough discrepancies [even within that official
- documentation provided by the United States] to conclude that even
- "facsimiles" of the Declaration of Indendence will NOT going to be
- all the same as the original, nor of other "facsimiles." There is
- a plethora of variations in capitalization, punctuation, and, even
- where names appear on the documents [which names I have left out].
- The resulting document has several misspellings removed from those
- parchment "facsimiles" I used back in 1971, and which I should not
- be able to easily find at this time, including "Brittain."
- [JT, Apr 05: "Brittish", however, is spelled as in the original.]
- **The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Declaration of Independence**
- The Declaration of Independence of The United States of America
- 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 shown, 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 endeavoured to prevent the population of these States;
- for that purpose obstructing the Laws of Naturalization of Foreigners;
- refusing to pass others to encourage their migration 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 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:
- 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 compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun
- with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the
- most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy of 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 excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has
- endeavoured 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 attention to our Brittish 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 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
- 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.
- ***
- End of The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Declaration of Independence
- ******This file should be named when12.txt or when12.zip******
- Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, when13.txt
- VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, when12a.txt
- This etext was produced by Michael S. Hart.
- ***
- Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed
- editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US
- unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not
- keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
- We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance
- of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing.
- Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections,
- even years after the official publication date.
- Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til
- midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement.
- The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at
- Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A
- preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment
- and editing by those who wish to do so.
- Most people start at our Web sites at:
- http://gutenberg.net or
- http://promo.net/pg
- These Web sites include award-winning information about Project
- Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new
- eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!).
- Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement
- can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is
- also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the
- indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an
- announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter.
- http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or
- ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03
- Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90
- Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want,
- as it appears in our Newsletters.
- Information about Project Gutenberg (one page)
- We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The
- time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours
- to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright
- searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our
- projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value
- per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2
- million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text
- files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+
- We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002
- If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total
- will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end.
- The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks!
- This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers,
- which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users.
- Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated):
- eBooks Year Month
- 1 1971 July
- 10 1991 January
- 100 1994 January
- 1000 1997 August
- 1500 1998 October
- 2000 1999 December
- 2500 2000 December
- 3000 2001 November
- 4000 2001 October/November
- 6000 2002 December*
- 9000 2003 November*
- 10000 2004 January*
- The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created
- to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium.
- We need your donations more than ever!
- As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people
- and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut,
- Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois,
- Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts,
- Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New
- Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio,
- Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South
- Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West
- Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
- We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones
- that have responded.
- As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list
- will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states.
- Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state.
- In answer to various questions we have received on this:
- We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally
- request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and
- you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have,
- just ask.
- While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are
- not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting
- donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to
- donate.
- International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about
- how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made
- deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are
- ways.
- Donations by check or money order may be sent to:
- Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
- PMB 113
- 1739 University Ave.
- Oxford, MS 38655-4109
- Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment
- method other than by check or money order.
- The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by
- the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN
- [Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are
- tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising
- requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be
- made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states.
- We need your donations more than ever!
- You can get up to date donation information online at:
- http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html
- ***
- If you can't reach Project Gutenberg,
- you can always email directly to:
- Michael S. Hart <[email protected]>
- Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message.
- We would prefer to send you information by email.
- **The Legal Small Print**
- (Three Pages)
- ***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START***
- Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers.
- They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with
- your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from
- someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our
- fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement
- disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how
- you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to.
- *BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK
- By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
- eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept
- this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive
- a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by
- sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person
- you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical
- medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request.
- ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS
- This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks,
- is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart
- through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project").
- Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright
- on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and
- distribute it in the United States without permission and
- without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth
- below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook
- under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark.
- Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market
- any commercial products without permission.
- To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable
- efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain
- works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any
- medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other
- things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or
- corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
- intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged
- disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer
- codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.
- LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES
- But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below,
- [1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may
- receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims
- all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including
- legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR
- UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT,
- INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE
- OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE
- POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
- If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of
- receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any)
- you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that
- time to the person you received it from. If you received it
- on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and
- such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement
- copy. If you received it electronically, such person may
- choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to
- receive it electronically.
- THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER
- WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS
- TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT
- LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A
- PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
- Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or
- the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the
- above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you
- may have other legal rights.
- INDEMNITY
- You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation,
- and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated
- with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
- texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including
- legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the
- following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook,
- [2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook,
- or [3] any Defect.
- DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm"
- You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by
- disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this
- "Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg,
- or:
- [1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this
- requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the
- eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however,
- if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable
- binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form,
- including any form resulting from conversion by word
- processing or hypertext software, but only so long as
- *EITHER*:
- [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and
- does *not* contain characters other than those
- intended by the author of the work, although tilde
- (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may
- be used to convey punctuation intended by the
- author, and additional characters may be used to
- indicate hypertext links; OR
- [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at
- no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent
- form by the program that displays the eBook (as is
- the case, for instance, with most word processors);
- OR
- [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at
- no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the
- eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC
- or other equivalent proprietary form).
- [2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this
- "Small Print!" statement.
- [3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the
- gross profits you derive calculated using the method you
- already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you
- don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are
- payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation"
- the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were
- legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent
- periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to
- let us know your plans and to work out the details.
- WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO?
- Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of
- public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed
- in machine readable form.
- The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time,
- public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses.
- Money should be paid to the:
- "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
- If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or
- software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at:
- [email protected]
- [Portions of this header are copyright (C) 2001 by Michael S. Hart
- and may be reprinted only when these eBooks are free of all fees.]
- [Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales
- of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be they hardware or
- software or any other related product without express permission.]
- *END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END*
|