Declaration of Independence
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 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 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 to 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 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 and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.
He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing taxes on us without our consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:
For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:
For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:
For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
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.
Nor have we been wanting in attention 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.
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 the 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.
New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
Source: The Pennsylvania Packet, July 8, 1776
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WASILLA, Alaska – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says she is resigning from office.
She didn't say why she decided to step down, but the surprise announcement stirred speculation that she would focus on a bid for the 2012 Republican nomination for president.
The former Republican vice presidential candidate made the announcement from her home in suburban Wasilla on Friday morning. She said she would step down
June 23, 2009, 12 a.m.
Reps. Ben Chandler and John Yarmuth — the only Democratic Members of the Bluegrass State delegation — are headlining a fundraising reception today in Washington, D.C., for Senate candidate and state Attorney General Jack Conway (D).
The $250-per-person event is taking place just off Capitol Hill and will also feature the state Speaker Greg Stumbo and state Auditor Crit Luallen.
(From R Voice 1 in Louisville, KY...This is case between Zeon Chemical and working class neighborhoods in Louisville, KY)
As all of you know, on June 19th, Judge Heyburn extended the comment period for the proposed settlement by 30 days. REACT along with many other residents saw this as a good step toward being able to reach many more of the thousands of people in the neighborhood who would lose their rights.
Today (20 days prior to the new deadline), I received word that Judge Heyburn has DENIED a motion to approve the settlement agreement.
This is good news!!
This means to me that thousands of people will not lose future rights to sue Zeon in the event of an incident at the facility. This means a settlement that would not be good for the community has been denied.
I know many of you will ask "What is next? What does this mean?"
Quite honestly I'm still attempting to obtain clarification on this but I just COULD NOT wait to tell you all how excited REACT is about this judgement. I know I should have had all the facts but I was just too excited.
Please expect over the next few days to receive communication from REACT on what the judgement means and what next steps the community will need to take.
Oh and by the way... The community meetings scheduled for the 2nd, 9th and 14th have been canceled. REACT will be at the church on the 2nd in case people show up.
Thank you to everyone who supported the effort to defeat an unfair settlement.
OWENSBORO, KY (WFIE) - "Lieutenant Governor Daniel Mongiardo toured an Owensboro business he hopes can help fix the health care system. Knox Technologies digitizes paper documents in an effort to improve physician care.
(Dr Mongiardo said): 'I'm concerned that if we don't fix health care, then we're going to continue to lose jobs to other countries," he said. "If we're the state that shows the rest of the country how to do it and we do it right, then we bring all kinds of jobs here."
From the Washington Post's Political Fix
In the seeming unending fight for endorsements in the Kentucky Democratic Senate primary between Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo and state Attorney General Jack Conway, the latter added to his pile on Monday when Andrew Horne announced his support. Horne, a lieutenant colonel in the Army and briefly a Senate candidate against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2003, said that Conway "gives us the best short of winning in 2010" because of his ability to appeal statewide and his youth.
News from State Auditor Crit Luallen’s Office Luallen moves forward with individual audits, citing alarming media reports and concerns over spending FRANKFORT, KY (7-1-09) State Auditor Crit Luallen today announced her plans to audit the Kentucky League of Cities (KLC) and the Kentucky Association of Counties (KACo) due to recent alarming media reports and serious concerns over spending. “Because of recent newspaper articles and specific concerns brought to my office, the Kentucky State Auditor intends to audit KLC and KACo,” Luallen said. “This office has a responsibility to Kentucky citizens to ensure accountability for their tax dollars. “In these tough economic times, it’s more important than ever that these two agencies, which are funded by the public and governed by elected officials, have full transparency and thorough scrutiny. Anything less would be a disservice to the cities and counties they serve.” Luallen contacted KLC Board Chair Connie Lawson, mayor of Richmond, and KACo Board Chair Mike Foster, county attorney in Christian County, to notify them of her office’s plans. A letter of notification was also sent to the board chairs that outlined the Auditor’s statutory authority to conduct examinations. Luallen’s office had previously offered a series of recommendations to the boards of KLC and KACo to assist them with better agency oversight. Luallen said while these recommendations can be a useful tool for any public board, individual audits will help address the many concerns and questions regarding expenses and operations at KLC and KACo. “It’s clear by the examples of extravagant spending and lack of transparency that these agencies and their boards need the necessary tools to fulfill their responsibilities to the taxpayers,” Luallen said. “Through our audits, my office will not only help answer the many questions that have been raised but also provide specific recommendations to improve financial oversight going forward.” ####
Sources close to Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson (R), who has formed a Senate exploratory committee, say he is on track to report raising close to $500,000 in the second quarter of the year. Grayson had only two months to fundraise this quarter after filing his exploratory committee in early May.
Grayson, who has said he does not plan to challenge Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) and has said he will only run if the incumbent decides to step aside…
Bowling Green physician Rand Paul is reporting that he has raised more than 100-thousand dollars for an exploratory committee looking at a possible campaign for U.S. Senate.
The Republican is positioning himself for a run if second-term GOP Senator Jim Bunning were to pull out of the race.
Paul is one of two Republicans who have formed exploratory committees.
The other, Secretary of State Trey Grayson hasn't yet said how much he has raised.
