Your Personal Declaration of Independence

Adapted from the U.S. Declaration of Independence

My Unanimous Declaration of Freedom

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for me to dissolve

the political bonds which have connected me with others and to assume among the
powers of the earth, a separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of
Nature’s God entitles me, a decent respect for the opinions of mankind requires that I
should declare the causes which impel me to this separation.

I 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.—That to secure these rights Governments
are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from my consent as one of the
governed.—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these
ends, it is my right to alter or ignore it, and to create new forms of Government with
other like minded citizens, laying foundations on such principles and organizing
powers, that seem to me most likely to affect my Safety and Happiness. Prudence,
indeed will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light
and transient causes, and accordingly general experience has shown me that I am
more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right them by abolishing
the forms to which I am accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and
usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to subject me to
absolute Despotism, it is my right, it is my duty, to throw off such Government, and
to be on guard for my future security.—Such has been the patient sufferance of my
People, and such is now the necessity which impels me to alter our former Systems of
Government. The history of our present leader is a history of repeated injuries and
usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over
me and my people. To prove this, let the facts be submitted candidly to the world, and
let others attest to this on their own.

He has forbidden his Government to pass laws of immediate and pressing

importance, unless he has given his Assent, and even when his assent has been given,
he has completely neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for accommodating large districts of people,
unless those people relinquish their rights of Representation in the Legislature, which
are of priceless value to them and only of formidable value to tyrants.

He has called together representatives of legislative bodies to unusual and

uncomfortable places that are distant from their habitual residences, for the sole
purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly for opposition, effectively

invalidating our rights by denying the mechanism of representative government.
 He has for a long time refused others the right(s) to election, exposing the
Nation to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has curtailed the civil rights of our population, obstructing for that purpose
naturalization laws for foreigners, refusing to encourage migration, and creating
conditions for Appropriations and Expropriations of property.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to laws,

or by naming his own appointees for establishing judiciary power.

He has made Judges dependent on his Party or Will alone for the tenure of their
offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has created a party of officials, and sent forth swarms of these party
members to harass our people and tax our sustenance.

He has created a single party system, without the consent of the People.

He has kept among us, without our consent, Standing Armies in times of peace.

He has effectively rendered the Military, independent of and superior to Civil

Authority, planning, budgeting and equipping armies for war, without public consent.

He has consented with others to subject us to foreign jurisdiction which is not

recognized by our constitution or acknowledged by our laws, giving his Assent to
Acts of arbitrary, artificial Legislation:

–To quarter large bodies of armed troops among us.

–To protect those troops by mock trial from punishment for any murders
which they might commit on our inhabitants.

–To cut off our trade with other partners of the world.

–To impose taxes on us without our consent.

–To deprive people in many cases of the benefit of a fair trial by jury.

–To extradite us from overseas to be tried for pretended offences.

–To abolish a free system of laws within our provinces, thereby

establishing an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries of
jurisdiction, rendering it a fit instrument for introducing absolute rule
into our political system.

–To take away our charters, abolish our most valuable laws, and
fundamentally alter the Forms of our Governments.
 –To suspend or paralyze our legislatures, and usurp the power to
legislate for us all.

He has abdicated our local government by declaring us out of his Protection

and waging War against us.

He has plundered seas, ravaged coasts, burnt towns, and destroyed human
lives.

He has transported large armies of mercenaries to accomplish works of death,

desolation, and tyranny, already established by circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy,
only paralleled by the most barbarous ages, totally unworthy of the Head of a
civilized nation.

He has forced fellow citizens taken captive overseas to turn against their own
country, to bear arms and become executioners of their friends and Brethren, or fall
victims themselves by their hands.

In each stage of these oppressions, I have petitioned for Redress in humble

terms, but these petitions have only been answered by repeated injuries. A prince,
whose character is marked by acts of a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

I have not neglected to call this to the attention of our political adversaries. We
have warned them of their attempts to extend an unwarranted jurisdiction over us. We
have also reminded them of the historical circumstances which led to our settlement
here. We have appealed to their sense of justice and magnanimity, of our common
ties, and urged them to cease these usurpations that would inevitably interrupt our
connections and correspondence. So I must, we all must, as common citizens, accept
the necessity of our Separation, and consider them as Outsiders, Enemies in War,—in
Peace as Friends.

I, therefore, in representation of my conscience, appeal to the Supreme Judge

of the world for the correctness of my intentions, do in the Name and the Authority of
like minded citizens, solemnly publish and declare that my Government by Right
ought to be Free and Independent, Absolved from all Allegiance to Tyranny, and that
all political connection to such a system, is and ought to be totally dissolved. As a
Free and Independent Person, I have the Power to Choose the Government which will
represent me and do all acts and things—that independent states might do—with
discretion and respect for other states outside of this conflict and their citizens. In
support of this declaration, and with firm reliance on Divine Providence, I join my
fellow citizens to pledge our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honour, so that the
rights each of us hold so dearly shall never perish.

This adaptation of The Declaration of Independence may be freely shared and distributed for
non-commercial purposes. Adapted by Michael McCurley, posted in Costa Rica, February, 2010.