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. [W]hen 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.
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