Opening paragraphs (co-written by a committee)

 Collaborators: John Adams,

Benjamin Franklin,

Roger Sherman,

Robert Livingston

PRIMARY WRITER: Thomas Jefferson

When in the course of human events

it becomes necessary for a people

to advance from that subordination

in which they have hitherto remained,

&

to assume among the powers of the

earth the equal and independant

station to which the laws of nature

&

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 change 

#We hold these truths

to be self-evident:

that all men are created equal

                        endowed by their

creator with certain unalienable rights:

Life

Liberty

Pursuit of Happiness.

To secure these rights 

governments are instituted

deriving their just powers from

the consent of the governed;

whenever any FORM of Govt.

becomes destructive of these ends:

It is the RIGHT of the people 

to alter it (form of govt.) or to

abolish it, and to institute new

government, laying its foundation

on such PRINCIPLES (of this

entire DECLARATION),

                and organizing its

powers in such form, as to them

shall seem most likely to effect

their safety and happiness. . .

ratified July 3 / signed July 4

1776 [ 250 years ago this year 2026 ]