When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected one another and to assume among the powers of the earth a separate and equal station, a decent respect for the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to separation.
We hold truth to be self evident that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted 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 abolish it and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organising its power in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.
Prudence 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 duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.
The People and the Government
Whenever one people forces to break the political bonds with another and assumes an independent status as a separate nation, they should declare the causes of such a separation. All men are created equal and they possess certain inalienable rights : life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Governments are created by the people to protect these rights. If a government fails to secure these, the people have a right to change that government. Prudence requires that long-established governments should not be changed for trivial causes. Only when constant abuses and usurpations threaten to bring them under despotism, then such a government should be thrown off to secure the future well beings.