Posted Monday/March 8, 1999; 8:01 a.m. PST

The Declaration of Independence, though almost "illegible" due to pen-type and long-hand cursive writing, has every word accounted for. When read from top to bottom, there is absolutely no question about the expressly implied intent of phrases like "...all men are created equal...," "...Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness...," "...deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...," "...it is the Right of the People to alter...," "...organizing its powers...," and "... provide new Guards for their future security...," 222 years later.

The Declaration of Independence marked the "culmination of a political process" that "began as a protest." A protest against oppressively imposed restrictions that developed into a "revolutionary struggle," that resulted in the establishment of a "nation." The Declaration recounted the "grievances" of the colonies against the British crown and declared the colonies to be free and independent states.

The Declaration of Independence served as a source of authority for the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution. It laid the groundwork for the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, adopted by the National Assembly of France during the "French Revolution."

The Declaration of Independence came into being as a resolution on June 7, 1776 and was presented as a declaration to the Congress on July 4.
It begins with:

In Congress July 4, 1776, The Unanimous Declaration of The Thirteen United States of America

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...