Declarations from Abroad
Many of the Declarations of Independence and other kindred declarations included here that come from other parts of the globe clearly were modeled after our July 4, 1776, and follow it in language, structure, and rhetorical devices. Even those that aren’t adaptations often drew their inspiration from it. Just the notion that a written declaration of independence was an critical means for launching an independence movement is usually evidence that the product of Jefferson and company was the inspiration in some way.
We currently have the following declarations from abroad archived:
Declaration of Independence, Argentina – July 9, 1816
Editor’s note: Argentina’s struggle for independence from Spain had begun a decade before the adoption of this Declaration of Independence, approved on July 9, 1816, six
Declaration of Independence of Venezuela – July 5, 1811
Editor’s Note: July 5, 1811 heralded Venezuela’s formal break with the Spanish crown when its members of congress approved the Venezuelan Declaration of Independence, which was clearly influenced
Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1945)
Editor’s Note: Ho Chi Minh’s September 2, 1945 declaration, proclaimed an independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The opening passage by Paris-educated Ho Chi Minh, founder of the
Haitian Declaration of Independence (1804)
Editor’s Note: On January 1, 1804, after a protracted war with forces sent by Napoleon Bonaparte to quell its uprising, Haiti (formerly Saint-Domingue) declared its
Declaration of Independence — Commonwealth of Liberia (1847)
Editor’s Note: Liberia’s declaration, issued on July 26, 1847, is modeled after our July 4, 1776 document. It asserts that Liberia is a “free, sovereign, and independent
African National Congress Freedom Charter (1955)
Editor’s Note: On June 26, 1955, in Kliptown, South Africa, a ‘people’s congress,’ with several thousand attending, adopted this Charter — effectively a declaration (and
Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel (1948)
Editor’s note: On May 14, 1948, the day that the British Mandate, which gave Britain authority over Palestine was ended. Immediately afterward, Israel, led by David
Declaration of the Independence of New Zealand (1835)
Editor’s Note: Declarations of independence don’t always set a people, but can further constrain them. Harvard historian David Armitage asserts that in the case of
