Dai fatti alla Storia - volume 2

M2 The Declaration of Independence The 4 July 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress. The text was mainly written by Thomas Jefferson and became a model for liberals, democrats and revolutionaries all over the world. PRIMARY SOURCE from The Declaration of Independence In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America, 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 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 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 to 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 shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. ACTIVITY 4.C Read the Primary Source and underline the terms given below and match them to their meanings. 1. Laws of Nature a. Political direction and control exercised over the action of citizens or inhabitants of communities, societies or states. 2. unalienable Rights b. Taking possession through the use of force or without legal right. 3. usurpations c. Specific principles of law that derive from nature (and are binding upon human society) and precede state laws. They reflect the rule of one s conscience. 4. Despotism d. Rights that governments cannot violate under any circumstances and that humans cannot nullify by human laws. For example the right to life. 5. Government e. The exercise of absolute authority or autocratic governments. A government does not respect laws and the rights of the people. ACTIVITY 4.D After reading the Primary Source answer the following questions. 554 1. According to the document, list the three unalienable rights for all men. 2. According to this document, what can the people do when a government becomes despotic?