France, and Ireland King, defender of the faith, etc., haveing undertaken, for the glorie of God, and advancemente of the Christian faith and honor of our king and countrie, a voyage to plant the first colonie in the Northerne parts of Virginia, doe, by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civill body politick, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and, by vertue heareof, to enacte, constitute, and frame, such just and equall laws, ordenances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete and convenient for the generall good of the Colonie. Unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witnes whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names, at Cap Codd, the 11th of November, in the year of the raigne of our sovereigne lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini, 1620.

THE FIRST DECLARATION OF RIGHTS.*

Resolves of the Convention of the English Colonies at New York, October 19, 1765.

THE Congress, upon mature deliberation, agreed to the following declarations of the rights and grievances of the colonists in America:

The members of this congress, sincerely devoted, with the warmest sentiments of affection and duty, to His Majesty's person and government, inviolably attached to the present happy establishment of the Protestant succession, and with minds deeply impressed by a sense of the present and impending misfortunes of the British colonies on this continent; having considered as maturely as time will permit, the circumstances of the said colonies, esteem it our indispensable duty to make the following declarations of our humble opinion respecting the most essential rights and liberties of the colonists and of the grievances under which they labor by reason of the several late acts of Parliament.

* From 1620 to 1765 the people of the colonies increased rapidly in numbers and in wealth. Their own interests and their relations with the mother-country became more complex. The English Government trespassed repeatedly upon the natural and the constitutional rights of the Americans, until, at the suggestion of the Massachusetts legislature, a congress of representatives from nine of the colonies met at the Cityhall, New York, October 7, 1765, by whom a Declaration of Rights, setting forth the liberties of the colonies, was issued. The people were still loyal subjects of the Crown. They were a conservative people, proud of their traditions and calmly asserting their ancient and undoubted rights. The declaration was the dignified appeal of a liberty-loving people to the king, that he should protect them in their rights.

1. That His Majesty's subjects in these colonies, owe the same allegiance to the crown of Great Britain, that is owing from his subjects born within the realm; and all due subordination to that august body, the Parliament of Great Britain.

2. That His Majesty's liege subjects, in these colonies, are entitled to all the inherent rights and liberties of his natural-born subjects within the kingdom of Great Britain.

3. That it is inseparably essential to the freedom of a people, and the undoubted right of Englishmen, that no taxes be imposed on them but with their own consent, given personally, or by their representatives.

4. That the people of these colonies are not, and from their local circumstances cannot be, represented in the House of Commons, in Great Britain.

5. That the only representatives of the people of these colonies, are persons chosen therein by themselves; and that no taxes ever have been, or can be constitutionally imposed on them, but by their respective legislatures.

6. That all supplies to the Crown, being the free gifts of the people, it is unreasonable and inconsistent with the principles and spirit of the British constitution, for the people of Great Britain to grant to His Majesty, the property of the colonists.

7. That trial by jury is the inherent and invaluable right of every British subject in these colonies.

8. That the late act of Parliament, entitled "An act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other duties in the British colonies and plantations, in America, etc." by imposing taxes on the inhabitants of these colonies, and the said act, and several other acts, by extending the jurisdiction of the courts of admiralty be

yond its ancient limits, have a manifest tendency to subvert the rights and liberties of the colonists.

9. That the duties imposed by several late acts of Parliament, from the peculiar circumstances of these colonies, will be extremely burthensome and grievous, and from the scarcity of specie, the payment of them absolutely impracticable.

10. That as the profits of the trade of these colonies ultimately centre in Great Britain, to pay for the manufactures which they are obliged to take from thence, they eventually contribute very largely to all supplies granted there to the Crown.

II. That the restrictions imposed by several late acts of Parliament on the trade of these colonies, will render them unable to purchase the manufactures of Great Britain.

12. That the increase, prosperity, and happiness of these colonies depend on the full and free enjoyments of their rights and liberties, and an intercourse with Great Britain, mutually affectionate and advantageous.

13. That it is the right of the British subjects in these colonies to petition the King, or either house of Parlia

ment.

Lastly, That it is the indispensable duty of these colonies, to the best of sovereigns, to the mother country, and to themselves, to endeavor by a loyal and dutiful address to His Majesty, and humble applications to both houses of Parliament, to procure the repeal of the act for granting and applying certain stamp duties, of all clauses of any other acts of Parliament, whereby the jurisdiction of the admiralty is extended, as aforesaid, and of the other late acts for the restriction of American commerce.

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

1776.*

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776.

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 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 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 be

* The Declaration of Rights was unheeded by the king; the liberties of the people were set at naught by the British Parliament; and the Americans were forced, in self-preservation, "to assume among the powers of the earth" the character and position of an independent nation. The conservative character of the people was again illustrated in the calm and dignified spirit of the great state paper which was issued to the world. It was the formal declaration of political opinions long current in America, and constitutes the first national paper in our history. By its promulgation popular government on a grand scale began. The people of the colonies declared themselves a new nation.