The Declaration's opening paragraph states: "a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation." What does this line commit the writers to doing?

The Declaration states: "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." What claim does this line make?

The Declaration states: "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." According to this line, what is a government for?

The Declaration states: "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." What right does this line assert?

The Declaration states: "Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes." What does this line caution?

The Declaration says a new government is founded by the people, "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." Who chooses that form?

Among the charges against the King, the Declaration lists: "He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good." Which British practice is this charge about?

The Declaration lists among its charges: "For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent." Which British practice is this charge about?

The Declaration lists among its charges: "For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences." Which British practice is this charge about?

The Declaration lists among its charges: "For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us." Which British practice is this charge about?

The Declaration charges: "He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people." Which British practice is this charge about?

The Declaration charges: "He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries." Which British practice is this charge about?

The Declaration charges: "He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny." Which British practice is this charge about?

Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston were four of the five men Congress appointed in June 1776 to prepare a declaration. Who was the fifth?

In June 1776 a Virginia delegate moved in Congress "That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States." Which delegate introduced that resolution?

Congress first voted on the resolution for independence itself, and only afterwards spent two more days editing the text of the Declaration. On what date did the vote for independence pass?

Jefferson's draft contained a long passage attacking the King over the Atlantic slave trade, and Congress struck it out. Which delegations did Jefferson later say the clause was removed to please?

Most delegates did not sign the Declaration on the day Congress approved its text; the parchment copy had to be engrossed first. On what date did most of the delegates sign it?

The Declaration reads: "He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people." Which part of the document is this sentence from?

The Declaration says: "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." What does this part of the document establish?

The Declaration says: "Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us." Whom does this part address?

The Declaration's final sentence reads: "And for the support of this Declaration... we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." What does this closing do?

The Declaration states that as Free and Independent States the colonies have "full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce." What did claiming that status make possible?

The Declaration announces that all men are created equal, and slavery was legal in all thirteen colonies when Congress adopted it. What did adopting the document do to the legal status of enslaved people?

The Declaration's closing declares the colonies "Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown." What did that claim assert?