Founding document · 1776

The Declaration of Independence

Adopted by the Second Continental Congress two days after it voted for independence, the Declaration announced the separation of the thirteen colonies from Great Britain. Drafted chiefly by Thomas Jefferson for a committee that included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston, it grounded that separation in natural rights and government by consent, then set out a long list of grievances against King George III.

“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.”

Thomas Jefferson (principal drafter), July 4, 1776

Why it matters

Its assertion that all men are created equal and endowed with unalienable rights became the nation’s founding creed, later invoked by abolitionists, by Abraham Lincoln and by the civil rights movement to hold the country to its principles.

Read the full text at archives.gov

Primary Source

The original record, reproduced or linked from the institution that holds it. Primary sources show what people said and did in their own words.

Subjects

founding independence natural rights consent of the governed

From the library

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