Declaration of Independence
America's birth certificate
The Declaration of Independence is the 1776 document announcing the American colonies' separation from Britain.
It proclaimed fundamental principles—that all men are created equal, that governments derive power from the consent of the governed, and that people may abolish tyrannical rule.
The phrase also applies generally to any formal assertion of autonomy: The teenager's move to her own apartment was her declaration of independence.
- We the PeopleOpening of the Constitution
- Founding FathersRevolutionary-era American statesmen
- founding documentEstablishing text of origin
- libertyAbsence of unjust constraint
- American RevolutionColonial separation from Britain
Thomas Jefferson · freedom · self-evident · all men are created equal · unalienable · Continental Congress · Revolutionary War · Haitian Revolution · Boston Tea Party · break free · Enlightenment ideals · grievances · John Hancock · natural rights · inalienable rights · patriots · Magna Carta · 1776
- American HistoryAmerican Revolution, Revolutionary War, colonial era, founding fathers, George Washington
- American RevolutionBoston Tea Party, Continental Congress, founding fathers, Stamp Act, Intolerable Acts
- Americas HistoryAmerican Revolution, Aztec Empire, colonial era, colonization, Columbus
- 1700sMozart, Voltaire, colonial period, French Revolution, William III
- Colonial AmericaGeorge Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Benjamin Franklin, Continental Congress
- Independence Declarations
Declaration of Independencecolonial charter
Crown-issued settlement authorization
Declaration of IndependenceConstitution
Governing principles document
Articles of Confederation · Bill of Rights · Federalist Papers