Chapter 6 page 7

THE AMERICAN ENGLISH EXPRESS Chapter 6 page 7

The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America

The document continues:

Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

· ‘Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies’

‘such’ means ‘this is the case now’

‘patient’ means ‘tolerant’; patience means endurance

(Note: these words should not be confused with ‘patient’ which also means a sick person in a hospital or ‘patients’ which means two or more sick people.)

‘sufferance’: to ‘suffer’ means to ‘endure’, ‘go through’ or ‘put up with’

‘sufferance’ means ‘endurance’

Paraphrased: ‘This is what the colonists have suffered.’

· ‘and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.’

To ‘constrain’ can mean to ‘limit’, ‘restrain’, ‘hold back’, ‘confine’, ‘hamper’ or ‘hinder’. In this case ‘which constrains them’ would mean ‘which limits them’ (meaning that the colonists have no other choice).

To ‘constrain’ can mean to ‘oblige’, ‘force’, ‘compel’, or ‘pressure. In this case ‘which constrains them’ would mean ‘which forces them’ (also meaning that the colonists have no other choice).

‘alter’ means change or adjust or amend’, (not to be confused with ‘altar’, the place where one worships or where one stands during a marriage ceremony)

Paraphrased: ‘and this need limits their choice to changing the existing government’. Or

‘and this need forces them to change the existing government’.

At this point the document continues by listing the oppressive things (‘the long train of abuses’) that King George caused or allowed. We will not review them all (which are included in the full text below) but I have selected a few:

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

Paraphrased: ‘The King has refused to agree to laws that are good for the colonists.”

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

Paraphrased: ‘The King has prevented important laws from being implemented until he agrees to them and then he doesn’t decide.’

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

Paraphrased; ‘The King will not pass laws which are important for large numbers of colonists unless they give up their right to have a say in who represents them; and this is something only a dictator would do.’

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

Note the use of ‘affected’ meaning ‘caused’ (from to ‘affect’ or ‘cause’; contrast with ‘effect’ meaning result). Look these words up!

Paraphrased: ‘The King has caused the army to be above the law.

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us.
’Quartering’ does not mean ‘dividing into four parts’. Here it means ‘providing room and board’. In this case, free room and board. The King’s soldiers were housed in the colonists’ homes and the colonists had to feed them. There was no payment for this.

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury.

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

The document continues:

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

‘redress’ means to ‘put right’ or ‘make right’ or to ‘rectify’.

Paraphrased: ‘All along, the colonists asked modestly for remedies but their requests were not granted and the problems continued. A ruler who continues to do these things to his subjects is a dictator and unsuitable as the ruler of a free people.’

The document continues:

Nor have We been wanting in 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. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

Paraphrased: ‘The colonists have tried to communicate these facts to the British: that the legislature has tried to pass unjust laws. They have discussed the past history, that they were promised full rights of Englishmen when they settled in the colonies. They have even appealed to their sense of right and wrong, but without success. Therefore, they are doing what they must, separating from England, and become a new nation, which can be either enemy or friend.’

The document continues:

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; 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, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Paraphrased: We, the authorized and assembled representatives of the United States, while appealing to God for the correctness of our purpose, do declare that these states are a free and independent nation; that all citizens are free of any obligation to the King of England, that all political connections between the two countries is ended, and that the new nation has the right to wage war, conclude peace, contract alliances, trade and do anything else a country might want to do. And to support this declaration, we pledge our lives, our futures and our honor.

The document ends with the signatures of the representatives. (See the end of the full text which follows).

One, John Hancock, signed his name in a very large script and, it is said, he stated, “I will sign my name so large that King George can read it without his spectacles!” To this day, the phrase, ‘put your John Hancock on it” means to sign your name on a document.

At this point I usually ask my students to write. You can do this now or wait until after the next chapter:

Please practice your reading and writing skills by writing either a partial paraphrase of the Declaration or your own Declaration of Independence (for example, as a student, a child, a parent, a citizen of your city or state).