The Declaration of Independence (Opening)
Continental Congress, July 4, 1776
The preamble and statement of self-evident truths that open the Declaration of Independence — an excerpt, not the full document with its list of grievances.
Download the handwriting worksheet (PDF)Printable, ruled for handwriting: copy it by hand, then type it here.
About this text
This excerpt covers the preamble and the statement of "self-evident" truths that open the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776; it leaves out the much longer middle section listing specific grievances against King George III, which makes up most of the document's actual length. Thomas Jefferson drafted the document, though it was revised by a committee and further edited by Congress before adoption.
The famous second paragraph is a single sentence built on a chain of subordinate clauses — "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed... that among these are..." — each one adding a claim before the sentence's main point arrives. Copying it slowly, clause by clause, is a good way to see how an argument this well known is actually constructed rather than simply memorized as a slogan.
What to watch for
- 1 apostrophe: sort each one into possession (the shepherd's staff) or a missing letter (don't = do not).
- Capital letters in the middle of a sentence: Course, Laws, Nature, Nature's, God, Creator. Ask why each one is capitalized before typing it.
- Longest word: "self-evident" (12 letters). Try spelling it aloud once before reaching it.
- 4 lines averaging about 45 words each. Long lines: a younger child may do half the text per sitting.
Full text (reference)
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.