第409集

1776年6月7日，维吉尼亚的理查·亨利·李(Richard

Henry

Lee)上呈李氏决议文(Lee

Resolution)至大陆议会;7月2日，正式宣告独立。决议文中写道:“

兹决议:合众殖民地(United

Colonies)为，亦应为，自由独立之国家，其免除自身对不列颠王室之拥戴;其与大不列颠国之一切政治联系为，亦应为，彻底无效。

“

宣言内容

威廉玛丽学院毕业的杰斐逊曾写道，《独立宣言》是“吁请世界的裁判“。自1776年以来，《独立宣言》中所体现的原则就一直在全世界为人传诵。美国的改革家们，不论是出于什么动机，不论是为了废除奴隶制，禁止种族隔离或是要提高妇女的权利，都要向公众提到“人人生而平等“。不论在什么地方，当人民向不民主的统治作斗争时，他们就使用杰斐逊的话来争辩道，政府的“正当权力是经被统治者同意所授予的“。

《独立宣言》由四部分组成:

第一部分为前言，阐述了宣言的目的。

第二部分高度概括了当时资产阶级最激进的政治思想，即自然权利学说和主权在民思想。

第三部分历数英国压迫北美殖民地人民的条条罪状，说明殖民地人民是在忍无可忍的情况下被迫拿起武器的，力陈独立的合法性和正义性。

在宣言的最后一部分，美利坚庄严宣告独立。《独立宣言》并非1776年7月4日签署的，7月4日是决议采用宣言的日期，之后进行了印刷。议会代表们大多于1776年7月2日签署本宣言。

中英对照

THE

DECLARATION

OF

INDEPENDENCE

独立宣言

In

Congress,

July

4,

1776,

大陆会议(一七七六年七月四日)

THE

UNANIMOUS

DECLARATION

OF

THE

THIRTEEN

UNITED

STATES

OF

AMERICA

美利坚合众国十三个州一致通过的独立宣言

When

in

the

Course

of

human

events,

it

becomes

n

ecessary

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.

在有关人类事务的发展过程中，当一个民族必须解除其和另一个民族之间的政治联系，并在世界各国之间依照自然法则和自然之造物主的意旨，接受独立和平等的地位时，出于人类舆论的尊重，必须把他们不得不独立的原因予以宣布。

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.

我们认为这些真理是不言而喻的:人人生而平等，造物者赋予他们若干不可剥夺的权利，其中包括生命权、自由权和追求幸福的权利。

That

to

secure

these

rights,

Governments

are

instituted

among

Men,

deriving

their

just

powers

from

the

consent

of

the

governed.

为了保障这些权利，人类才在他们之间建立

政府，而政府之正当权力，是经被治理者的同意而产生的。

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.

Prudence,

indeed,

will

dictate

that

Governments

long

established

should

not

be

changed

for

light

and

transient

causes;

and

accordingly

all

experience

has

shown,

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

a

long

train

of

abuses

and

usurpations,

pursuing

invariably

the

same

Object,

evinces

a

design

to

reduce

them

under

absolute

Despoti,

it

is

their

right,

it

is

their

duty,

to

throw

off

such

Government,

and

to

provide

new

Guards

for

their

future

security.