THE Random Chat Thread - AKA "The RCT" - No shirt or shoes required - Open 24 / 7

[releventchair]

Morning Evan
Civil holiday here.

A rather diverse holiday when missions / reason for it being a holiday are chased for definition by any given region / province.
But I'll try to be civil about it...

 

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[ARC]

Oh no big identification error 😢
TRAVELLER777
oh that pirate ☠️
He's busy trying to dislodge the encrusted barnacles from between the Cap'n toes.
Image that and we thought toe jam was bad.
I feel for the fellow mate.
Running rum helped drown the horrible duties that he faces each day.
I'm so glad to be hankering down in the bilges.
I've got the best bed now, as I found some great ballast stones that lay flat.
Got meself a long one tht tucks under the neck.
Now training those furry 🐀 🐀 🐀 🐀 to keep me bones from shivering is going to be hard.
They prefer the upper decks at night.

***ARC quickly removes his flip flop... errr.... boot... and then inspects in-between his toes... and see's that there are in fact no barnacles there***

And I must declare it appears he does a good job !

 

[pepperj]

***ARC quickly removes his flip flop... errr.... boot... and then inspects in-between his toes... and see that there are in fact no barnacles there***

And I must declare it appears he does a good job !

So RU going to give him a raise/promotion/rations/and the longer angle chain?
He really deserves all of the above and more.
Such a devoted shipmate he is-always always has a positive attitude toward fellow mates.
The praises that are bestowed unto you sir is unequivocally is in the highest order.
He spoken the words with not a slur, so we know he was of good standing.

 

[pepperj]

I thinks me going to get the chainsaws out, files, fuel, oil, sharpen, trim, and then fall a big leaning birch that's got the Mrs worried.
Don't park the bug over there, tree leaning, it'll fall.
We have insurance.
Oh that lights a fire response.
I'd be wearing a melon if she had one handy.
I guess taking the tree down is a better response.

Saw a small hole chewed in the side of the barn, mouse, tree rat of some sorts.
Was going to block it off with steel wool
Bumblebee did an exit
Yup it can live there no problem.

 

[WannaDig3687]

Off to the new dentist. Oh yippee skippy!

 

[pepperj]

Off to the new dentist. Oh yippee skippy!

Best of luck, no pain-no gain.
No wrong saying pepper
I heard it's better just to faint.

 

[ARC]

 

[ARC]

First Permanent English Settlement​

Despite the failure of the Lost Colony at Roanoke, King James I was eager to start a permanent English settlement in North America. He granted charters to a pair of English companies to establish those settlements. While one of the two companies was unsuccessful in establishing a colony in present-day Maine, the other, known as the London Company, led by captain Christopher Newport, sailed to Virginia and established a settlement on a swampy peninsula on the James River.

Unfit for Life in the Wilderness​

While the chosen location certainly provided good cover from the potential ambushes of local Indians, its swampy climate led to horrible diseases such as Dysentery and Malaria. Jamestown further suffered from poor and corrupt leadership and a population of men that were unfit for life in the wilderness. Many were there for the opportunity to make a lot of money and refused to participate in building shelters or collecting food. Settlers constantly bickered with each other and found relatively little in the way of natural resources or wonders to send back to England.

John Smith's Power​

Because Jamestown was built on traditional hunting grounds of the Algonkin Indians, trouble arose soon after their arrival. By the winter of 1607, only 38 out of the original 104 settlers were still alive. Food shortages were making unbearable situations even worse. Jamestown was on the brink of collapse until JOHN SMITH formulated plans to procure Indian corn and other foods via trade. Smith's first excursions were extremely successful, and he returned to the beleaguered colony with large quantities of corn and beans. On one of his excursions, however, he was ambushed by Indians and taken to the great king Powhatan. Smith used his charm and persuasion to convince Powhatan that the settlers were peaceful and did not intend to build a permanent settlement at Jamestown. Smith was subsequently returned to Jamestown and gained influence among the colonists.

 

[ARC]

 

[ARC]

Smith Becomes President of the Jamestown Council​

In winter of 1608, Jamestown remained a desperate settlement with serious leadership problems and a food shortage. John Smith became hated by much of the so-called leadership. Despite at least one attempt on his life, Smith was named president of the Jamestown Council because of his previous experience and because he was one of the few colonists who knew what it took to survive at Jamestown.

The Life-Force of Jamestown​

For the next year, Smith managed the colony about as well as it could be managed. He forced all colonists to work and contribute to the colony as a whole. He imposed badly-needed discipline and even staged shooting contests and drills to scare local Indians who were surely spying on them. Besides managing Jamestown, John Smith procured food from local Indians for European trinkets and goods. Despite Powhatan's demand for guns, John Smith refused to trade them, and often burned villages and stole food when Indians would not trade. Smith's power terrified the Indians, who came to think of him as virtually indestructible. Powhatan rightfully saw him as the life-force of Jamestown and sent his warriors on countless missions to kill him. While John Smith escaped death many times with firepower, Powhatan's daughter, the princess Pocahontas, took a special liking to him, and informed him in advance when her father would send warriors after him.

 

[ARC]

 

[ARC]

Smith Returns to England​

The Jamestown colony flourished under the strict rule of John Smith. Nevertheless, The London Company (which was now called the Virginia Company) had formed a new government that was to be led by Thomas De La Warre. The new charter issued by the Virginia Company called for the appointment of a governor rather than a president. John Smith, who nearly died after igniting himself in a canoe, returned to England for good. Since De La Warre was unable to make the trip immediately, Thomas Gates was named interim governor. Unfortunately, Gates' ship wrecked off the coast of Bermuda and he was unable to resume the trip until new ships were built.

A New Outlook on Profit​

Meanwhile, the Virginia Company was in the process of reformulating its philosophy on potential profits in Jamestown. By 1609, it became obvious that profits would have to be realized over a long-term basis rather than immediately. The Virginia Company began reorganizing business possibilities to resemble those that had been successful in controlling the populations in Ireland. They proposed to bring England to the New World by sending families to Jamestown. Families were promised their own parcels of land for seven years of communal labor at Jamestown. This, the Virginia Company believed, would cause colonists to have a permanent stake in the welfare of the community as a whole, which would result in increased productivity and profit. Those that were not wealthy enough to pay their passage to the New World would have their trip subsidized (paid for) in exchange for seven years of labor. Those individuals became servants.

The Starving Time​

With John Smith out of the picture, and with the lack of a visible leader at Jamestown (because of Gates' shipwreck), Powhatan saw an opportunity to rid himself of the white settlers once and for all. Hence, Powhatan ordered his people to stop trading with the settlers. Without any leadership, and more specifically without the leadership of John Smith, the settlers once again became complacent and stopped contributing to the welfare of Jamestown. Trading teams that departed from Jamestown to Powhatan's lands rarely returned and were presumed dead. Without corn from the Algonkins, with settlers who refused to work, and with Powhatan's warriors seemingly closing in around them, the winter of 1609-1610 became known as the "Starving Time". Colonists were forced to eat cats and dogs and some were even executed for digging up human corpses to eat. When Gates finally arrived in 1610, only about 60 of the 500 settlers were still alive. Gates decided to abandon the settlement and nearly set sail with the remaining settlers for England. While Powhatan and his people celebrated wildly, Thomas De La Warre arrived with three fully supplied ships with a mission to stay indefinitely.

The Return of Discipline​

IDe La Warre and Gates re-established the tough discipline that had led the colony to success under John Smith. Under the set of rules developed by Gates and enforced by Sir Thomas Dale (the future governor of Virginia), settlers would be brutally punished for breaking the rules. Settlers were shot, burned at the stake, and hung at the gallows. Such transgressions as cursing carried physical torture or public humiliation as consequences.

Increasing Violence​

During this time relations with the Indians worsened. The settlers were still dependent on the Indians for food, and became more and more violent in their quests to obtain it. The Indians, in turn, responded in kind, resulting in a bloody series of killings on both sides.

The Kidnapping of Pocahontas​

During the winter of 1612-1613, Samuel Argall devised a plan to kidnap Powhatan's favorite daughter, Pocahontas, who was visiting friends near Jamestown. Argall bribed two Indians with somecopper kettles to lure Pocahontas onto an English ship. Although Pocahontas was suspicious, she boarded the ship and was kidnapped. Argall planned to ransom Pocahontas, but Powhatan was unwilling to meet the demands of the English. Negotiations dragged on for over a year, during which time, Pocahontas grew accustomed to life among the English. In captivity, she converted to Christianity, was baptized, and in 1614, married the wealthy tobacco planter John Rolfe. The marriage of Rolfe and Pocahontas resulted in a truce between the Indians and the English. Although Powhatan was unhappy with the marriage and truce, as he realized in would result in the expansion of the English settlement, he grew tired of the fighting and felt powerless to stop it.

Jamestown's Cash Crop and the Headright System​

Despite the truce, Jamestown remained a dismal place for most of the settlers. Food shortages and disease were rampant in Jamestown. Because Rolfe's tobacco crop showed such promise for profit, many settlers began growing their own, though few reserved space for corn. Tobacco became the cash crop of the Jamestown settlement. In 1614, conditions improved for settlers when Thomas Dale, using his powers as governor, began transferring some of the land to private ownership. In order to continue growing tobacco, the Virginia Company needed a substantial workforce. Through "the Headright System", English settlers were guaranteed 50 acres of land in return for three years of labor. "Heads of Families" who came to the New World were guaranteed 50 acres of land for each person they brought over. With their own lands, settlers began to build houses, tend to their land and grow crops which resulted in a new hope and inspiration for a successful colony.

The Last Massacres​

Unfortunately, Jamestown's future was not bright. Powhatan's successor, Opechancanough, attacked the white settlements near Jamestown in order to prevent the settlers from taking more land for tobacco. It was a surprise attack, as the warriors approached the settlements as if they were preparing to trade. The attacks decimated the settlements and resulted in the deaths of 347 settlers, including John Rolfe. The attacks were especially surprising considering the peaceful relations that had reigned for many years. Although the Indians were driven back and eventually completely defeated, In 1624, as a result of the high mortality rates at Jamestown, and the colony's poor financial state, King James revoked the colony's charter and made Virginia a possession of the crown.

 

[blossom]

Smith Returns to England​

The Jamestown colony flourished under the strict rule of John Smith. Nevertheless, The London Company (which was now called the Virginia Company) had formed a new government that was to be led by Thomas De La Warre. The new charter issued by the Virginia Company called for the appointment of a governor rather than a president. John Smith, who nearly died after igniting himself in a canoe, returned to England for good. Since De La Warre was unable to make the trip immediately, Thomas Gates was named interim governor. Unfortunately, Gates' ship wrecked off the coast of Bermuda and he was unable to resume the trip until new ships were built.

A New Outlook on Profit​

Meanwhile, the Virginia Company was in the process of reformulating its philosophy on potential profits in Jamestown. By 1609, it became obvious that profits would have to be realized over a long-term basis rather than immediately. The Virginia Company began reorganizing business possibilities to resemble those that had been successful in controlling the populations in Ireland. They proposed to bring England to the New World by sending families to Jamestown. Families were promised their own parcels of land for seven years of communal labor at Jamestown. This, the Virginia Company believed, would cause colonists to have a permanent stake in the welfare of the community as a whole, which would result in increased productivity and profit. Those that were not wealthy enough to pay their passage to the New World would have their trip subsidized (paid for) in exchange for seven years of labor. Those individuals became servants.

The Starving Time​

With John Smith out of the picture, and with the lack of a visible leader at Jamestown (because of Gates' shipwreck), Powhatan saw an opportunity to rid himself of the white settlers once and for all. Hence, Powhatan ordered his people to stop trading with the settlers. Without any leadership, and more specifically without the leadership of John Smith, the settlers once again became complacent and stopped contributing to the welfare of Jamestown. Trading teams that departed from Jamestown to Powhatan's lands rarely returned and were presumed dead. Without corn from the Algonkins, with settlers who refused to work, and with Powhatan's warriors seemingly closing in around them, the winter of 1609-1610 became known as the "Starving Time". Colonists were forced to eat cats and dogs and some were even executed for digging up human corpses to eat. When Gates finally arrived in 1610, only about 60 of the 500 settlers were still alive. Gates decided to abandon the settlement and nearly set sail with the remaining settlers for England. While Powhatan and his people celebrated wildly, Thomas De La Warre arrived with three fully supplied ships with a mission to stay indefinitely.

The Return of Discipline​

IDe La Warre and Gates re-established the tough discipline that had led the colony to success under John Smith. Under the set of rules developed by Gates and enforced by Sir Thomas Dale (the future governor of Virginia), settlers would be brutally punished for breaking the rules. Settlers were shot, burned at the stake, and hung at the gallows. Such transgressions as cursing carried physical torture or public humiliation as consequences.

Increasing Violence​

During this time relations with the Indians worsened. The settlers were still dependent on the Indians for food, and became more and more violent in their quests to obtain it. The Indians, in turn, responded in kind, resulting in a bloody series of killings on both sides.

The Kidnapping of Pocahontas​

During the winter of 1612-1613, Samuel Argall devised a plan to kidnap Powhatan's favorite daughter, Pocahontas, who was visiting friends near Jamestown. Argall bribed two Indians with somecopper kettles to lure Pocahontas onto an English ship. Although Pocahontas was suspicious, she boarded the ship and was kidnapped. Argall planned to ransom Pocahontas, but Powhatan was unwilling to meet the demands of the English. Negotiations dragged on for over a year, during which time, Pocahontas grew accustomed to life among the English. In captivity, she converted to Christianity, was baptized, and in 1614, married the wealthy tobacco planter John Rolfe. The marriage of Rolfe and Pocahontas resulted in a truce between the Indians and the English. Although Powhatan was unhappy with the marriage and truce, as he realized in would result in the expansion of the English settlement, he grew tired of the fighting and felt powerless to stop it.

Jamestown's Cash Crop and the Headright System​

Despite the truce, Jamestown remained a dismal place for most of the settlers. Food shortages and disease were rampant in Jamestown. Because Rolfe's tobacco crop showed such promise for profit, many settlers began growing their own, though few reserved space for corn. Tobacco became the cash crop of the Jamestown settlement. In 1614, conditions improved for settlers when Thomas Dale, using his powers as governor, began transferring some of the land to private ownership. In order to continue growing tobacco, the Virginia Company needed a substantial workforce. Through "the Headright System", English settlers were guaranteed 50 acres of land in return for three years of labor. "Heads of Families" who came to the New World were guaranteed 50 acres of land for each person they brought over. With their own lands, settlers began to build houses, tend to their land and grow crops which resulted in a new hope and inspiration for a successful colony.

The Last Massacres​

Unfortunately, Jamestown's future was not bright. Powhatan's successor, Opechancanough, attacked the white settlements near Jamestown in order to prevent the settlers from taking more land for tobacco. It was a surprise attack, as the warriors approached the settlements as if they were preparing to trade. The attacks decimated the settlements and resulted in the deaths of 347 settlers, including John Rolfe. The attacks were especially surprising considering the peaceful relations that had reigned for many years. Although the Indians were driven back and eventually completely defeated, In 1624, as a result of the high mortality rates at Jamestown, and the colony's poor financial state, King James revoked the colony's charter and made Virginia a possession of the crown.

Wow! Thanks for that Cappy, history Is so fascinating 😀 x

 

[ARC]

Wow! Thanks for that Cappy, history Is so fascinating 😀 x

want more ?

 

[blossom]

want more ?

yes please 😆x

 

[ARC]

 

[ARC]

Written for the Powers of the World​

The main purpose of America's Declaration of Independence was to explain to foreign nations why the colonies had chosen to separate themselves from Great Britain. The Revolutionary War had already begun, and several major battles had already taken place. The American colonies had already cut most major ties to England and had established their own congress, currency, army, and post office. On June 7, 1776, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Richard Henry Lee voiced a resolution that the United States should be completely free of England's influence, and that all political ties between the two countries should be dissolved. Congress agreed and began plans to publish a formal declaration of independence and appointed a committee of five members to draft the declaration.

Explaining that Parliament had Failed the People​

Thomas Jefferson was chosen to draft the letter, which he did in a single day. Four other members—Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams—were part of the committee to help Jefferson. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson explained that a body of people has a right to change governments if that government becomes oppressive (unfair and controlling). He further explained that governments fail when they no longer have the consent of the governed. Since Parliament clearly lacked the consent of the American colonists to govern them, it was no longer legitimate.

Approved and Signed​

The Declaration was presented to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 2, 1776. It was approved with a few minor changes. Of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, John Hancock, of Massachusetts, was the first.

 

[ARC]

Actual Text​

The Declaration of Independence - July 4, 1776

WHEN in the Course of human Events,

it becomes necessary 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.

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 - That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, 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 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 a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great- Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.

HE has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.

HE has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

HE has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.

HE has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.

HE has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.

HE has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of the Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and the Convulsions within.

HE has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

HE has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

HE has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.

HE has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.

HE has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.

HE has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

HE has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

FOR quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us;

FOR protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

FOR cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:

FOR imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

FOR depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:

FOR transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:

FOR abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rules into these Colonies:

FOR taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

FOR suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.

HE has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

HE has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.

HE is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.

HE has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

HE has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.

IN every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.

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.

WE, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

 

[ARC]

Causes of the French and Indian War​

Land Disputes in the Ohio River Valley​

Although struggles for supremacy had been going on for many decades between France and England in the New World, hostilities intensified in the early 1750's as both English and French settlers had attempted to colonize land in the Ohio River Valley, near present day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The English settlers, who had moved northwest from Virginia, and French settlers, who had moved east from the Great Lakes, or south from Canada, each thought they owned the rights to the land.

The Battle of Jumonville Glen and the Building of Fort Necessity​

In 1754, English forces under George Washington had begun their march to Fort Duquesne for the purposes of ousting the French from the region by force. On the way, they encountered a French scouting party near present-day Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Washington's men massacred the party in what came to be known as The Battle of Jumonville Glen. Washington soon took camp at Great Meadows, a large natural clearing, and ordered the construction of Fort Necessity in anticipation of a French response. The French did respond, as 600 soldiers forced Washington to surrender the fort. The French and Indian War had begun.

Effects of the French and Indian War​

So Long, France​

As a result of the British victory in the French and Indian War, France was effectively expelled from the New World. They relinquished virtually all of their New World possessions including all of Canada. They did manage to retain a few small islands off the coast of Canada and in the Caribbean. They also agreed to stay out of India, which made Great Britain the supreme military power in that part of Asia. In addition, as compensation for Spain's loss of Florida to England, Spain was awarded the Louisiana Territory. The entire face of North America had been dramatically changed.

Taxes on the Colonies​

Following the war, England issued the Proclamation of 1763. Westward-bound settlers, however, ignored the proclamation and moved into Indian lands. Because the English had incurred significant debt while fighting the war in and for the colonies, Parliament attempted to recoup the financial loss by issuing the 1765 Stamp Act on the colonists. The Stamp Act was a tax on virtually all printed documents. The tax was ill-received by the colonists, who began a boycott of British goods and even attacked British tax collectors. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act and instead issued the Declaratory Act, which maintained Britain's right to tax the colonists. These tax issues would become the cause of an even greater conflict 10 years later - The American Revolution.

 

[blossom]

Actual Text​

The Declaration of Independence - July 4, 1776

WHEN in the Course of human Events,

it becomes necessary 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.

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 - That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, 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 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 a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great- Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.

HE has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.

HE has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

HE has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.

HE has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.

HE has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.

HE has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of the Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and the Convulsions within.

HE has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

HE has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

HE has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.

HE has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.

HE has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.

HE has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

HE has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

FOR quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us;

FOR protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

FOR cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:

FOR imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

FOR depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:

FOR transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended Offences:

FOR abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government, and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rules into these Colonies:

FOR taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

FOR suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.

HE has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

HE has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.

HE is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized Nation.

HE has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

HE has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.

IN every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.

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.

WE, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

I cant believe I have never actually read that. 😔 Thank you for educating me Cappy 💕