Dripread - Book

conspicuous a place in history,
which establishes the supremacy of the law of England over the will of
the monarch, and which still forms the basis of English liberties.

THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION

More than a year before the signing of the Declaration of Independence a
document was drawn up that was almost a model in phraseology and
sentiment of the great charter of American freedom. There are various
accounts of this matter, but the most trustworthy is this:

At a public meeting of the residents of Mecklenburg County, North
Carolina, held at Charlotte on the 20th of May, 1775, it was

"Resolved, That whenever directly or indirectly abetted, or in any way,
form or manner countenanced, the unchartered and dangerous invasion of
our rights, as claimed by Great Britain, is an enemy to our country--to
America--and to the inherent and inalienable rights of man.

"Resolved, That we, the citizens of Mecklenburg County, do hereby
dissolve the political bonds which have connected us to the mother
country, and hereby absolve ourselves from all allegiance to the British
crown, and abjure all political connection, contract or association with
that nation, which has wantonly trampled on our rights and liberties,
and inhumanly shed the blood of American patriots at Lexington.

"Resolved, That we do hereby declare ourselves a free and independent
people; are and of right ought to be a sovereign and self-governing
association, under the control of no power other than that of our God
and the general government of the Congress. To the maintenance of which
independence we solemnly pledge to each other our mutual cooperation,
our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

There are two other resolutions, concerning the militia and the
administration of the law, but these, having no present value, are here
omitted.

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.
In Congress, July 4, 1776.

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people
to dissolve the political bonds 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 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 inalienable 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 a 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 has shown 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. 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.

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for
the public good.

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.

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,
formidable to tyrants

The Handy Cyclopedia of Things Worth Knowing / A Manual of Ready Reference