[Illustration: Draft of Declaration of Independence, page021]


* In this publication, the parts struck out are printed in
Italics and inclosed in brackets--and those inserted are
inclosed in parenthesis.


A DECLARATION BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN
_GENERAL_ CONGRESS ASSEMBLED.

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 [_inherent and_] (certain)
inalienable 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 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