Tibetan Declaration of Independence (1913)
Editor’s note: On February 13, 1913, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama returned to Tibet from exile in India — where he’d fled four years earlier after China’s Quing (Manchu) dynasty had dispatched troops — and issued this proclamation declaring the restoration of its independence. At the time of the Dalai Lama’s return to the Himalayan region, the […]
“What is required is a new declaration of independence” — President-Elect Obama, Jan. 17, 2009
Editor’s note: On January 17, 2009, just three days before his first inauguration, President-elect Barack Obama called for “a new declaration of independence.” This isn’t the only time he’s harked back to the Declaration. ” In calling for the legalization of same sex marriages on June 4, 2013, he said, “It’s something that can be traced back […]
Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire (Acta de Independencia),1821
Editor’s note: In this very brief document, drafted by Juan José Espinosa de los Monteros, secretary of the Provisional Governmental Board, the Mexican Empire declared its independence from the Spanish Empire. Where the declaration of Mexico bears no resemblance to our July 4, 1776 document, our successful struggle for liberty certainly resonated there. Though only […]
The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense Ten-Point Platform and Program — “A combination of a Bill of Rights and a Declaration of Independence” (1967)
Editor’s note: This document is characterized by Huey P. Newton, co-founder in 1966 with Bobby Seale of the radical Black Panther Party, as a “combination of a Bill of Rights and a Declaration of Independence.” Officially called “The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense Ten-Point Platform and Program, it was crafted and then published by the […]
Town of Malden, Massachusetts, Instructions for a Declaration of Independence (May 27, 1776)
Editor’s note: A little over a month before the heady day of July 4, 1776, no longer interested in trying to patch things up with Britain — “we have reason to think that it would be fatal to the liberties of America” — the town of Malden, MA, instructs its representative “to give [the Second […]
Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States (July 4, 1876)
Editor’s Note: Not everything went according to the carefully planned script during our Centennial celebration of the Declaration of Independence, held at Independence Square in Philadelphia. At the proceedings, five of our nation’s most prominent women’s rights activists –Matilda Joslyn Gage, Phoebe W. Couzins, Sara Andrews Spencer, Susan B. Anthony, and Lillie Devereux Blake — interrupted the […]
Declaration for Independence by the Inhabitants of Alford, Mass. — June 7, 1776
Editor’s note: This is what one might call a conditional declaration of independence — if the Second Continental Congress decides to sever ties with Britain, then the town of Alford, in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, “will support the measure with their lives and fortunes.” Declaration for Independence by the Inhabitants of Alford ALFORD, BERKSHIRE COUNTY (Mass.) At […]
Declaration of Common Aims of the Independent Mid-European Nations (1918)
Editor’s note: A veritable declaration of independence was issued on October 26, 1918, after leaders of mid-European nations convened in for several days at Independence Hall in Philadelphia — of all places — shortly before the ending of World War I and the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Thomas Masaryk, a professor who would become […]
Everywhere in the World
MyDeclaration My name is Stewart Harris, and I declare that I can never hope to say anything about freedom as profound as what Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in his State of the Union Message of 1941: “In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four […]
Declaration of Independence, or Purna Swaraj, of the Indian National Congress (1930)
Editor’s note: Drafted on behalf of the Indian National Congress by Mahatma Gandhi, this declaration of independence was issued on January 26, 1930. Gandhi’s reasoning in the opening sentence for why India should be a sovereign state free of British rule is that, “it is the inalienable right of the Indian people,” as a people, […]
