great value of a union? What circumstances led them to think seriously of a general union? What convention was holden at New York in 1765? What was done by this convention? What is the date of the first Continental Congress? Where was it holden and of whom composed? Why was it called Continental Congress? What colony was not represented in this Congress? What was its great object? When and where and for what purpose did a Congress next assemble? When did Georgia accede to the confederacy? Was there a union of the Colonies now formed? Ans. There was in fact, although there was as yet no solemn formal league. Did the Union act as a sovereignty before it declared itself independent? When and where was the declaration of Independence made? By whom was it made? How many years since it was made? What was the object of this declaration? Ans. To set forth to the nations of the earth the causes of our separation from Great Britain, and our claims to be considered as an independent nation. Who drew this declaration ? What is the present attitude of Great Britain and the United States towards each other? Ans. One of great harmony.

CHAPTER II.

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

JULY 4, 1776.

[From the Journals of Congress.]

A Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands 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 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. 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

ernment.

patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of govThe 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 mean time, 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 migrations 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,