brief introduction
American declaration of independence.
The Declaration of Independence was a document drafted by Thomas Jefferson on July 4, 1976. It was signed by representatives of other 13 colonies, and originally announced that 13 colonies in North America had left British colonial rule.
During the whole period of 65438+11960s and 65438+11970s, the relationship between Britain and its North American colonies became increasingly tense. 1775, Lexington and Concord broke out, which marked the beginning of the American War of Independence. Although the original idea was not complete independence, Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense urged people to believe that complete independence was the only possible way out for the colony.
1776 On June 7th, at the Second Continental Congress, Richard Henry Lee, Virginia proposed a motion, announcing: "With goodwill, in the name of the people and power of these colonies, we solemnly declare and declare that these joint colonies have become, and naturally should become, free and independent United States; They have removed all subordination to the king of England, and all political ties between them and the Kingdom of Great Britain should be completely abolished. " 10 In June, the Continental Congress appointed a committee to draft the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson was in charge of the actual drafting. On July 4th, the Declaration of Independence was adopted and sent to the parliaments of 13 colonies for signature and approval. The thirteen colonies are: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.
The members of the committee are john adams, Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin, Pennsylvania, Jefferson, Virginia, Robert R Livingstone, New York, and roger sherman, Connecticut. They formed to draft an appropriate declaration. Jefferson drafted a large part. Before the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration, it was rewritten in the criminal court, and one of the deleted chapters involved slavery.
Thomas Jefferson (1743- 1826), as a member of the drafting committee including john adams and Benjamin Franklin, drafted the first draft of the American Declaration of Independence. The Continental Congress made major revisions to Jefferson's draft, especially at the insistence of the representatives of Georgia and South Carolina, and deleted his strong condemnation of King George III of England for allowing the colonies to practice slavery and slave trade. Part of the content was deleted as follows: "He waged a cruel war on human nature itself and violated the most sacred right to life and freedom of a distant nation that had never offended him. He deceived them, transported them to the other half of the earth to be slaves, or let them die tragically on the road. " 1776 On July 4th, the Continental Congress adopted this declaration.
Jefferson once wrote that the Declaration of Independence was a "judge who appealed to the world". Since 1776, the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence have been told all over the world. American reformers, regardless of their motives, want to abolish slavery, prohibit apartheid or improve women's rights, must mention to the public that "all men are created equal." No matter where people struggle against undemocratic rule, they will use Jefferson's words to prove that "the legitimate power of the government is granted with the consent of the ruled."
The Declaration of Independence consists of three parts: the first part expounds the political philosophy-the philosophy of democracy and freedom, which is profound and touching; The second part lists some concrete examples of inequality to prove that George III destroyed American freedom. The third part solemnly declares independence and swears to support the declaration.
explain
1On June 7, 776, the Continental Congress proposed a resolution on behalf of Virginia that the North American colonies should secede from Britain. The Continental Congress elected a committee composed of Thomas Jefferson, john adams and Benjamin Franklin to draft the American Declaration of Independence.
Jefferson drafted the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, and Franklin and others polished it. The Continental Congress held a long and fierce debate on this draft, and finally made a major revision. Especially at the insistence of the representatives of Georgia and Carolina, Jefferson's strong condemnation of King George III of England for allowing slavery and slave trade to remain in the colony was deleted. The original text of this part is like this:
His humanity itself launched a cruel war and violated the most sacred right to life and freedom of a distant nation that never offended him; He lured them, transported them to the other half of the ball to be slaves, or let them die tragically on the road.
Slavery in the United States was not solved until more than 80 years later during the Civil War. 1On September 22nd, 862, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, announcing the freedom of slaves, but the scope was limited to slaves in rebel states, but it did not include slaves in several slave-holding states that did not participate in the rebellion. The real slavery in law was at the end of postwar 1865. Racial discrimination against colored people still exists today.
There is such a strong contrast between the truth that "all men are created equal" recognized in the Declaration of Independence and the protection of slavery. However, this is real history. However, since 1776, "all men are created equal", as the basic principle of the founding of the United States and as people's beliefs and ideals, has been praised all over the world. American just social reformers have mentioned this ideal in every historical stage of society in order to abolish slavery, prohibit apartheid and liberate women. When people oppose undemocratic and unjust rule, they also regard it as the most powerful ideological weapon.
Thomas Jefferson (1743- 1826) was born in a wealthy family in Virginia. Studying at William and Mary College. 1767 became a lawyer, and 1769 was elected to the Virginia House of Commons. He took an active part in the independence movement and represented Virginia at the Continental Congress. He was elected governor of Virginia twice. 1800 was elected president of the United States.
Jefferson wrote for his tombstone in his epitaph:
Thomas Jefferson, the author of the American Declaration of Independence, the maker of Virginia's religious freedom law and the father of the University of Virginia, was buried here.
Historical background
First, as early as 100 before independence, the European Enlightenment began to spread in North America, which laid a theoretical foundation for the publication of the Declaration of Independence.
Secondly, under the influence of European enlightenment thought, North American colonies also produced their own enlightenment thinkers, represented by Benjamin Franklin (1706- 1790) and Thomas Jefferson (1743- 1826). They opposed slavery and advocated people's freedom and equal rights.
Third, "no taxation without representation" was the loudest slogan shouted by the colonial people of North America during the War of Independence. This slogan was originally the basic principle of British politics. It was used in the struggle between the British nobility and the royal family, but it was used by colonists to defend their rights in the War of Independence.
The British Parliament keeps taxing the colonies, but there are no representatives of the colonies in the Parliament. The British Parliament promulgated the Sugar Tax Act (1764), the Stamp Tax Act (1765) and the Townsend Tax Act (1767) respectively, which triggered the resistance of the colonial people. The bloody suppression of the colonial people's protests by the British army caused a sensational "Boston Massacre". 1773, the British Parliament promulgated the Tea Tax Act. In a rage, Boston citizens poured British tea worth nearly 654.38 million pounds into the Charles River. The British Parliament was furious and passed a series of laws that the colonies regarded as intolerable. The British king's bloody suppression of the resistance of the North American people completely shattered the illusion of reconciliation between the colonial people and the British royal family, and "demanding independence" became the universal voice of the colonial people in North America.
Fourth, 1776, Paine's Common Sense was published in North America. In this pamphlet of less than 50 pages, Paine accurately answered the concerns of the colonial people in North America with concise and vivid language, and pointed out the necessity of the independence of the North American colonies from a brand-new perspective. Paine called on the colonial people to make a clean break with Britain and establish their own republic. He emphasized that real power must and can only come from the people. Paine's thought represents the radical thought in the American revolution. His theory inspired more colonial people in North America, especially the middle and lower classes, to devote themselves firmly to the War of Independence.
Democratic thought
The democratic thought of the Declaration of Independence is mainly embodied in four aspects: equality, natural human rights, sovereignty in the people and the people's revolutionary rights.
First, the idea of equality and natural rights. "Natural human rights" is also translated as "natural rights". Its basic spirit is to emphasize that people have inherent rights, and these rights should never be deprived. The Declaration of Independence inherits and develops Locke's theory of natural human rights, which holds that all men are created equal. These rights are endowed by nature and cannot be deprived. These rights include the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Second, the people's sovereignty theory. "Sovereignty lies with the people" is also translated as "people's sovereignty" or "all power belongs to the people", which is a theoretical extension of "natural human rights". Its theoretical point of view is that the basis of government legitimacy comes from the consent of the broad masses of people. If any form of government becomes a government that harms people's interests to protect people's rights, people have the right to change or abolish it and establish a new government. The Declaration of Independence pointed out that the people are the sovereign, and all the power of the government comes from the people. The government should obey the will of the people and exist for their happiness and protection of their rights.
Third, the theory of people's revolutionary rights. The Declaration of Independence is based on the theory that natural human rights and sovereignty belong to the people, pointing out that since the power of the government comes from the people, the purpose is to protect the people's natural rights. If the government fails to perform its duties and infringes on the people's rights, the people have the right to rise up for revolution to change or overthrow it.
Historical significance and limitations
First of all, the Declaration of Independence is a great political document. Although the Declaration of Independence was the result of discussion by the upper class of the North American colonies, it represented the wishes of the vast number of colonial people. For the first time in human history, it put forward the following principles in the form of a political program: all people are born equal, the people have inalienable rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, the government must be formed with the consent of the people, the government should exist for the sake of people's happiness and protection of people's rights, and the people have the right to rise up and revolutionize and overthrow the government that fails to perform its duties. These principles have become the ideology of the United States in the future and laid the ideological foundation for the development of the United States in the next 200 years. It also directly influenced the French Revolution and promoted the national independence movements in Asia and Latin America.
Secondly, the declaration of independence has certain historical limitations. In the Declaration of Independence, "all men are created equal". At that time, "everyone" meant white people with certain property, excluding women, blacks, Indians and poor white people. However, the slogan "All men are created equal" has finally become the most powerful ideological weapon for blacks, women and other ethnic minorities to strive for equal rights.
Original translation
1July 4, 776, the original 13 British colonies in North America unanimously adopted the original declaration of independence:
In the development of human affairs, when a nation must break its political ties with another nation out of respect for human public opinion and accept its independent and equal status in all countries of the world according to the laws of nature and the will of God, it must announce the reasons why they must be independent.
We hold the following truth to be self-evident: all men are created equal, and the creator endowed them with certain inalienable rights, including the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In order to protect these rights, human beings have established a government in it, and the legal power of the government is generated with the consent of the ruled. When any form of government is destructive to these goals, the people have the right to change or abolish it in order to establish a new government; The principles it is based on and the way it organizes power make people think that only in this way can their safety and happiness be the most possible. To be prudent, the government that has been established for many years should not be changed for secondary and short-term reasons. All past experience also shows that human beings would rather endure any suffering, as long as it is tolerable, and have no intention of abolishing the government to which they have long been accustomed for their own rights and interests. However, when a series of abuse of power and extortion in pursuit of the same goal prove that the government is trying to put the people under autocratic rule, then the people have the right and obligation to overthrow the government and establish new guarantees for their future security-this is the situation that these colonies resigned in the past, and this is why they have to change the previous government system now. The history of the king of Great Britain today is a continuous history of injustice and usurpation. The sole purpose of these atrocities is to establish tyranny in these countries. In order to prove the truth, announce the following facts to the just world-
He refused to approve the laws that were most beneficial and necessary for the public interest.
He prohibited his governor from approving urgent and extremely necessary laws, or put them on hold for the time being, waiting for his consent; And once these laws were shelved, he completely ignored them.
He refused to approve other laws that are convenient for people in vast areas unless those people are willing to give up their representation in the legislature; But this right is of inestimable value to them, and only tyrants fear this right.
He called state legislatures to an unusual and inconvenient place far from their archives for the sole purpose of exhausting them and having to obey his will.
He dissolved the state legislature many times because they opposed his violation of people's rights with fearless perseverance.
After the dissolution of the state legislature, he refused to elect a new parliament for a long time; However, legislative power cannot be abolished, so this power is still exercised by ordinary people. In fact, these countries are still in a dangerous situation, suffering from foreign aggression and worrying about civil strife.
He tried his best to curb the growth of American population; To this end, he blocked the adoption of the naturalization law for foreigners, refused to approve other laws encouraging foreigners to emigrate to the United States, and improved the conditions for allocating new land.
He refused to approve the law establishing judicial power, which hindered the implementation of judicial work.
He put the tenure, salary and remuneration of judges under his will.
He set up a new government office, sent a large number of officials, harassed our people and exhausted the people's necessary living materials.
He maintained a standing army among us in peacetime without the consent of our legislature.
He tried to make the army independent of civil affairs.
He colluded with some people and put us under a jurisdiction that is not suitable for our system and is not recognized by our laws; He also approved all kinds of fake bills concocted by those people to achieve the following purposes:
A large number of armed forces are stationed among us;
Cover them up with false trials, so that they can kill the residents of our States and still get away with it;
Cut off our trade with the rest of the world;
Tax us without our consent;
In many cases, we are deprived of the rights and interests of the jury system;
Luo Zhi accused us of escorting us overseas for trial;
Abolish the British liberal legal system in a neighboring province, establish an authoritarian government there, and expand the border of the province in an attempt to turn the province into both a model and a handy tool, thus further extending the same totalitarian rule to the colonies here;
Cancel our charter, abolish our most precious laws, and fundamentally change the form of our state governments;
Suspend our own legislature from exercising its power and claim that they have the right to make laws for us on all issues.
He announced that we were no longer under his protection and fought with us, thus giving up the government affairs here.
He plundered our waters, ravaged our coastal areas, burned down our towns and ruined the lives of our people.
At this time, he was transporting a large number of foreign mercenaries to complete the slaughter, destruction and rampant activities. This kind of activity has already begun, and its cruelty and meanness are hard to find a precedent even in the most barbaric times. He is totally unworthy of being the head of a civilized country.
He captured our compatriots on the high seas, forced them to take up arms against their country, became executioners to kill their relatives and friends, or died at their hands.
He incited civil strife among us and tried his best to provoke those ruthless and uncivilized Indians to slaughter and plunder the residents of our frontier; As we all know, the Indian's fighting principle is that all men, women and children will be killed.
At every stage of these oppression, we demand improvement with the most humble words; However, repeated requests get repeated injuries. When a monarch's character is branded as a tyrant, he is not worthy to be the ruler of a free nation.
It's not that we don't care about our brothers in England. We often remind them that their legislature is trying to impose unreasonable jurisdiction on us. We also told them that we immigrated and settled here. We appeal to them for their innate sense of justice, kindness and generosity, and we implore them to give up these predatory behaviors for the sake of the same clan and not to affect their relations and exchanges. But they also turned a deaf ear to this call for justice and blood. Therefore, we really want to break off relations with them and treat them like other nationalities in the world: fighting with us is the enemy; Make up with us and you will be friends.
Therefore, we, the representatives of the United States of in the name of people, gathered at the next meeting of the Continental Congress, with the goodwill of the colonies to the people, appealed to the highest justice in the world without their authorization, explained our solemn intentions, and solemnly announced at the same time; These United colonies are free and independent countries from now on. According to their rights, they must be free and independent countries. They canceled all loyalty obligations to the British royal family, and all political relations between them and the British country were cut off from now on, and they must be cut off; As free and independent countries, they have every right to declare war, conclude peace, form alliances, trade and take all actions that independent countries have the right to take.
In order to support this declaration, we firmly believe in God's blessing and swear to each other with our lives, property and sacred reputation.