Ashley Singer
AP Lang & Comp
D’Ambrosio
15 October 2018
Declaration of Independence from
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one person to dissolve the social 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. I hold these truths to be self-evident, that all members of a social party shall remain equal, that they should be empowered by another rather than demoralized, in order to be successful in Life, Relations, and the pursuit of Happiness. To secure these rights, Interconnections are established among associates, deriving bonds through the vulnerability and companionship of those involved–That whenever any Form of Interconnection becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the Person to confront their associates or to abandon them, and to institute new Interconnections, with individuals whose values are more aligned and whose loyalty will remain intact, as such shall seem most likely to convenience, rather than detriment, their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Interconnections long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, 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 an extensive amount of abuses and usurpations have been violated in repetition, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to demoralize them under forces of cruelty banded together, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Interconnections, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of myself; and after long contention with myself, such is now the necessity which constrains myself to confront my former circle of Interconnections, of which I have been ostracized from. The history of my present companions is a history of repeated usurpations and slander, all having in direct object the establishment of absolute Adversary against myself, turning prior alignment with Allies into contention Enemies. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
They who deliberately exclude only myself from gatherings of all sorts.
They who restrict my communication through separate and secretive means of speaking.
They who ignore my words, opinions, and emotions; who raise their own voice to contend and assert their own words, opinions, and emotions over those of another.
They who are selfish for their own needs and boast their own successes to satisfy their own obsession for constant acclamation.
They who must constantly elevate their own standing, maneuvering their words and experiences as if to make themself seem more entitled and deserving; attempting to assume superiority rather than to parallel others in a coequal Interconnection.
They who slander another with intentionally cruel remarks, who mock and criticize freely without the afterthought of consequences for both another and thyself.
They who manipulate each other for personal needs and with devious intentions.
They who are quick to abandon long laid foundations for new, withholding thyself to no bound of loyalty– often to elevate personal societal status or to fill personal agendas beyond the scope of the immediate Interconnection:
For allowing the desire for attention to relay into competition and domination of all acts: including conversation and excursions, which are meant to be enjoyed by all freely–
For broadcasting secrets and rumors; violating confidentiality and trust without second thought of divulgement to second parties and beyond, whom the message was never intended:
For offering a paucity of genuine interest and concern in the wellbeing and status of other beings outside themself:
For demonstrating no apparent willingness to support one another in personal endeavors:
For allowing jealousy and blind spite to interrupt and corrupt relations.
They whose remorse for their own misconduct is too often deficient, lacking the courage to apologize, denying involvement or wrongdoing as if blame has been misconvicted. While in the same instance, I am incriminated for all and any sin, of great magnitude or insignificant, in wake of my own error or too often the error of another:
For clearing their own name, often by the withholdment of truths, therefore allowing anger to fester and accusations to fall on an innocent other, rather than to face confrontation:
For turning battles into wars through the dwelling on of trivial matters; the difference of opinions forming sides of which you must choose to stand definitively behind.
They who consume me with emotion, not of joyous companionship, but of crippling regret– of
In every stage of these Oppressions I have Articulated my Discontent and Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: My repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. Companions whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Enemy, are unfit to accompany me throughout the course of my remaining life, as my personal needs of support and fellowship have been unprovided for.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
I, therefore, in result of my accumulating disapprobation and vexation, in defense of my own Wellbeing, decisively, appealing to my own benefit for the remainder of the course of my life to rectitude my intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That I am, and of Right ought to be a Free and Independent Being; that I shall be Absolved from all Allegiance to the Interconnections of this party, and that all social association between them and Myself exclusively, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as a Free and Independent Being, I posses the full Power to establish new Associations and Interrelations, with those who Enable me to reach my full potential, Formulate and Express my own opinions, stand Defiantly for my own morals, Relish within my own successes, and to do all other Acts and Things which an Independent Person may of right do without contention. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, I unambiguously pledge my Life, Fortune, and sacred Honor.