Declaration of Independence

On July 4, 1776, the thirteen American colonies formally severed ties with the British Crown — and Thomas Jefferson's declaration explaining why became one of the most consequential political documents ever written. Its opening lines, asserting that all men are created equal and endowed with unalienable rights, would go on to shape constitutions, civil rights movements, and the language of liberty around the world for the next two and a half centuries. This edition presents the founding text in full, alongside the list of grievances against King George III that made revolution not just possible, but, to its signers, necessary.