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 New Zealand, the declaration of independence signed by a preponderance of Maori indigenous group leaders, who had no input in the document, “recognized the territorial sovereignty of the Maori only […]
Tea Party Nation Declaration of Independence (2010)
Editor’s Note: In February 2010, about a year after enter the political scene in a big way, Tea Party activists began disseminating a ‘Declaration of Independence.’ Evocative at last in some respects of our July 4, 1776 document, the declaration aims to be a means for clarifying their principles and purpose, for establishing their independence from the […]
New York Mechanics Declaration of Independence (May 29, 1776)
Editor’s Note: This local declaration of independence — which preceded the July 4, 1776 document was issued in May 1776, signed by manual laborers in the Mechanick-Hall, New York — requested that New York’s contingent in the Second Continental Congress formally vote for independence. This eloquent local declaration calls for a pan-colonial declaration of independence. New […]
Vermont Declaration of Independence — January 15, 1777
Editor’s Note: Five months before it became known as Vermont — a roughish translation of the French for ‘green mountain’ — the territory was at its origins ‘New Connecticut.’ In January 1777, delegates gathered in Westminster to declare formally their independence both from the British crown and from the New York colony (Congress didn’t recognize it as a […]
Preamble to Virginia Constitution – a Declaration of Grievances (June 29, 1776)
Editor’s Note: Ever wonder where Jefferson came up with the grievances enumerated in his first draft of the Declaration? You need look no further than the Preamble he composed for the Virginia Constitution. While Jefferson was not present at the proceedings of Virginia’s constitutional constitution, such was his passion for constitution making that he sent the convention delegates a constitution […]
Act of Sovereign Union between First Nations and Peoples in Australia (2012)
Editor’s Note: This 2012 declaration, evocative of our July 4, 1776 document, was issued by an organization called “The National Unity Government” and asserts the sovereignty of indigenous ‘first nations and peoples’ in Australia. The document is the product of a series of gatherings that first convened in 1999. Act of Sovereign Union between First Nations and […]
Republic of Lakotah (2007)
Editor’s note: Until he passed away in October 2012, Russell Means, co-founder of the American Indian Movement, was a prime mover and shaker behind the effort to establish the Provisional Government of the Republic of Lakotah. Those who carry the torch for the movement do not see this as secession but rather as a “withdrawal;” they consider […]
Declaration of Continuing Independence – First Indian International Indian Treaty Council (1974)
Editor’s Note: This declaration emerged out of a growing activist movement among Native Americans to re-establish their autonomous rights of government, their rights under existing treaties, and their continued grievances with the U.S. government and how their rights have been continually subverted. Nearly 100 indigenous tribes and Nations took part in the 1974 gathering at Standing […]
Jefferson’s First Draft of the Declaration of Independence (1776)
Editor’s note: While Jefferson audaciously, and incorrectly, had etched on his tombstone the he was “author of the Declaration of Independence,” the best he can lay claim to is that he was the composer of the first draft. Would Americans of his day have been as galvanized and presented as united a front, if Jefferson’s draft had […]
A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774)
Editor’s Note: The Summary View, Jefferson’s first manifesto, which served as great grist for Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of July 4, 1776, contains one of the most radical declarations of rights ever made. In the document Jefferson declares that we all have the right to expatriate — and that when we do, we have the right to establish society anew. […]
