,the ,united ,states ,declaration of    
,independence was the first ,e-text     
hand mounted for retrieval4  ,the disk  
pack was the size of a large cake in a  
cake carrier1 cost #aejj1  and contained
 #e megabytes1 of which this file took  
#a-b4  ,two tape backups were kept plus 
one on paper tape4  ,the #aj1jjj files  
we hope to have online by the end of    
#bjja should take about #a-b of a       
comparably priced drive in #bjja4  ,this
 file was never copyrighted1            
,sharewared1 etc41 and is thus for all  
to use and copy in any manner they      
choose4 ,please feel free to make your  
own edition using this as a base4  ,in  
my research for creating this           
transcription of our first ,etext1 ,i   
have come across enough discrepancies   
even within that official documentation 
provided by the ,united ,states to      
conclude that even 8facsimiles0 of the  
,declaration of ,independence are nary  
identical to the original1 nor of other 
8facsimiles40 ,there is a plethora of   

variations in capitalizations1          
punctuation1 and where names appear on  
the documents which names ,i have left  
out4  ,the resulting document has       
several misspellings removed from those 
parchment 8facsimiles0 ,i used back in  
#aiga1 and which ,i should not be able  
to easily find at this time1 including  
8,brittain40  ,,jt1 ,apr #bjje3         
8,brittish0 is spelled as in the        
original4  ,,ro1 ,aug #bjbe3 ,dr4       
,hart's original fully-justified columns
 of text in the plain text version have 
been restored for the introduction4     
,minor text alterations were made to do 
so4   999999  ,transcribers' ,notes     
,,note3 ,this file contains the original
 contents of the     the ,declaration of
 ,independence4 ,this file previously   
contained a compilation of etexts from  
#b to #i4 ,also    it contained a       
duplicate of the ,declaration - as part 
of preserving the history of the        
contents which isn't    necessary any   
longer4 ,the historical variations of #a

    are included in the 8old0           
subdirectory accessed under    the      
8,more ,files0 listing in the landing   
page for this    file4 ,no edits or     
changes have been made to them4     ,all
 of the original ,project ,gutenberg    
,etexts from the    #aigj's were        
produced in ,,all ,,caps1 no lower case4
  ,the    computers we used then didn't 
have lower case at all4  999999         
,,the ,,declaration ,,of ,,independence 
,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,,of       
,,america   ,,in ,,congress1 ,july #d1  
#aggf  ,the unanimous ,declaration of   
the thirteen united ,states of ,america 
,when in the ,course of human events1 it
 becomes necessary for one people to    
dissolve the political bands which have 
connected them with another1 and to     
assume1 among the ,powers of the earth1 
the separate and equal station to which 
the ,laws of ,nature and of ,nature's   
,god entitle them1 a decent respect to  
the opinions of mankind requires that   
they should declare the causes which    

impel them to the separation4  ,we hold 
these truths to be self-evident1 that   
all men are created equal1 that they are
 endowed by their ,creator with certain 
unalienable ,rights1 that among these   
are ,life1 ,liberty1 and the pursuit of 
,happiness4 ,that to secure these       
rights1 ,governments are instituted     
among ,men1 deriving their just powers  
from the consent of the governed1 ,that 
whenever any ,form of ,government       
becomes destructive of these ends1 it is
 the ,right of the ,people to alter or  
to abolish it1 and to institute new     
,government1 laying its foundation on   
such principles and organizing its      
powers in such form1 as to them shall   
seem most likely to effect their ,safety
 and ,happiness4 ,prudence1 indeed1 will
 dictate that ,governments long         
established should not be changed for   
light and transient causes2 and         
accordingly all experience hath shown1  
that mankind are more disposed to       
suffer1 while evils are sufferable1 than

 to right themselves by abolishing the  
forms to which they are accustomed4 ,but
 when a long train of abuses and        
usurpations1 pursuing invariably the    
same ,object evinces a design to reduce 
them under absolute ,despotism1 it is   
their right1 it is their duty1 to throw 
off such ,government1 and to provide new
 ,guards for their future security4     
--,such has been the patient sufferance 
of these ,colonies2 and such is now the 
necessity which constrains them to alter
 their former ,systems of ,government4  
,the history of the present ,king of    
,great ,britain is a history of repeated
 injuries and usurpations1 all having in
 direct object the establishment of an  
absolute ,tyranny over these ,states4   
,to prove this1 let ,facts be submitted 
to a candid world4  ,he has refused his 
,assent to ,laws1 the most wholesome and
 necessary for the public good4  ,he has
 forbidden his ,governors to pass ,laws 
of immediate and pressing importance1   
unless suspended in their operation till

 his ,assent should be obtained2 and    
when so suspended1 he has utterly       
neglected to attend to them4  ,he has   
refused to pass other ,laws for the     
accommodation of large districts of     
people1 unless those people would       
relinquish the right of ,representation 
in the ,legislature1 a right inestimable
 to them and formidable to tyrants only4
  ,he has called together legislative   
bodies at places unusual1 uncomfortable1
 and distant from the depository of     
their ,public ,records1 for the sole    
purpose of fatiguing them into          
compliance with his measures4  ,he has  
dissolved ,representative ,houses       
repeatedly1 for opposing with manly     
firmness his invasions on the rights of 
the people4  ,he has refused for a long 
time1 after such dissolutions1 to cause 
others to be elected2 whereby the       
,legislative ,powers1 incapable of      
,annihilation1 have returned to the     
,people at large for their exercise2 the
 ,state remaining in the mean time      

exposed to all the dangers of invasion  
from without1 and convulsions within4   
,he has endeavoured to prevent the      
population of these ,states2 for that   
purpose obstructing the ,laws of        
,naturalization of ,foreigners2 refusing
 to pass others to encourage their      
migration hither1 and raising the       
conditions of new ,appropriations of    
,lands4  ,he has obstructed the         
,administration of ,justice1 by refusing
 his ,assent to ,laws for establishing  
,judiciary ,powers4  ,he has made judges
 dependent on his ,will alone1 for the  
tenure of their offices1 and the amount 
and payment of their salaries4  ,he has 
erected a multitude of ,new ,offices1   
and sent hither swarms of ,officers to  
harass our ,people1 and eat out their   
substance4  ,he has kept among us1 in   
times of peace1 ,standing ,armies       
without the ,consent of our             
legislatures4  ,he has affected to      
render the ,military independent of and 
superior to the ,civil ,power4  ,he has 

combined with others to subject us to a 
jurisdiction foreign to our             
constitution1 and unacknowledged by our 
laws2 giving his ,assent to their ,acts 
of pretended legislation3  ,for         
quartering large bodies of armed troops 
among us3  ,for protecting them1 by a   
mock ,trial1 from ,punishment for any   
,murders which they should commit on the
 ,inhabitants of these ,states3  ,for   
cutting off our ,trade with all parts of
 the world3  ,for imposing taxes on us  
without our ,consent3  ,for depriving   
us1 in many cases1 of the benefits of   
,trial by ,jury3  ,for transporting us  
beyond ,seas to be tried for pretended  
offences3  ,for abolishing the free     
,system of ,english ,laws in a          
neighbouring ,province1 establishing    
therein an ,arbitrary government1 and   
enlarging its ,boundaries so as to      
render it at once an example and fit    
instrument for introducing the same     
absolute rule into these ,colonies3     
,for taking away our ,charters1         

abolishing our most valuable ,laws1 and 
altering fundamentally the ,forms of our
 ,governments3  ,for suspending our own 
,legislatures1 and declaring themselves 
invested with ,power to legislate for us
 in all cases whatsoever4  ,he has      
abdicated ,government here1 by declaring
 us out of his ,protection and waging   
,war against us4  ,he has plundered our 
seas1 ravaged our ,coasts1 burnt our    
towns1 and destroyed the lives of our   
people4  ,he is at this time            
transporting large armies of foreign    
mercenaries to compleat the works of    
death1 desolation and tyranny1 already  
begun with circumstances of ,cruelty    
perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most 
barbarous ages1 and totally unworthy of 
the ,head of a civilized nation4  ,he   
has constrained our fellow ,citizens    
taken ,captive on the high ,seas to bear
 ,arms against their ,country1 to become
 the executioners of their friends and  
,brethren1 or to fall themselves by     
their ,hands4  ,he has excited domestic 

insurrections amongst us1 and has       
endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants 
of our frontiers1 the merciless ,indian 
,savages1 whose known rule of warfare1  
is an undistinguished destruction of all
 ages1 sexes and conditions4  ,in every 
stage of these ,oppressions ,we have    
,petitioned for ,redress in the most    
humble terms3 ,our repeated ,petitions  
have been answered only by repeated     
injury4 ,a ,prince1 whose character is  
thus marked by every act which may      
define a ,tyrant1 is unfit to be the    
ruler of a free ,people4  ,nor have ,we 
been wanting in attention to our        
,british brethren4 ,we have warned them 
from time to time of attempts by their  
legislature to extend an unwarrantable  
jurisdiction over us4 ,we have reminded 
them of the circumstances of our        
emigration and settlement here4 ,we have
 appealed to their native justice and   
magnanimity1 and we have conjured them  
by the ties of our common kindred to    
disavow these usurpations1 which would  

inevitably interrupt our connections and
 correspondence4 ,they too have been    
deaf to the voice of justice and of     
consanguinity4 ,we must1 therefore1     
acquiesce in the necessity1 which       
denounces our ,separation1 and hold     
them1 as we hold the rest of mankind1   
,enemies in ,war1 in ,peace ,friends4   
,we1 therefore1 the ,representatives of 
the ,united ,states of ,america1 in     
,general ,congress1 ,assembled1         
appealing to the ,supreme ,judge of the 
world for the rectitude of our          
intentions1 do1 in the ,name1 and by the
 ,authority of the good ,people of these
 ,colonies1 solemnly publish and        
declare1 ,that these ,united ,colonies  
are1 and of ,right ought to be ,free and
 ,independent ,states2 that they are    
,absolved from all ,allegiance to the   
,british ,crown1 and that all political 
connection between them and the ,state  
of ,great ,britain1 is and ought to be  
totally dissolved2 and that as ,free and
 ,independent ,states1 they have full   

,power to levy ,war1 conclude ,peace1   
contract ,alliances1 establish          
,commerce1 and to do all other ,acts and
 ,things which ,independent ,states may 
of right do4 ,and for the support of    
this ,declaration1 with a firm reliance 
on the ,protection of ,divine           
,providence1 we mutually pledge to each 
other our ,lives1 our ,fortunes and our 
sacred ,honor4