Declaration of Independence

The document Americans have come to know as the Declaration of Independence was authored in 1776 and is comprised of several sections. The first section, known as the introduction, generally states the reason that the document was written and states the causes for the American colonies to part ways with Great Britain. The second section is called the preamble and spells out the principals that were recognized as being “self evident” by most subjects of the British Empire. The first section of the body of the Declaration gives evidence of the "long train of abuses and usurpations" heaped upon the colonists shoulders by King George III. The second section of the body states that the colonists had pleads and warns England by saying “Nor have we been wanting in our attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us” .

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United States

United States

This warning is significant since it clearly refers to past incidents such as the "long train of abuses and usurpations" that were addressed by the colonies and are now tied to this new action of declaring independence. Now that the conditions that made independence necessary have been stated and having shown that those conditions existed in British North America, the Declaration concludes that"these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and IndependentStates; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown,and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain,is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that, as free and independent states,they have full power to levy war…” .

This phrase holds obvious weight, yet consider its words in the time they were written. The authors of the declaration, in no uncertain terms,