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In this, an election year, it would do us all well as a nation to give thought to the quotes below.  We should seriously give consideration to the path which we have recently fallen into and whether such a path is for the greater good over time.  Huge amounts of debt acquired in order to fund an ever growing governmental body which overshadows our entire nation, choking the freedom which we once knew.  Is it really best for the government to oversee our entire life, from cradle to grave?  Is it really best for us to exchange our Creator’s benevolent and wise oversight for the intrusion into our private lives by fallible and corrupt men and women?  Give careful consideration to the quotes below.  What path shall we follow?

We electors have an important constitutional power placed in our hands: we have a check upon two branches of the legislature, as each branch has upon the other two; the power I mean of electing at stated periods, one branch, which branch has the power of electing another. It becomes necessary to every subject then, to be in some degree a statesman: and to examine and judge for himself of the tendencies of political principles and measures.

[John Adams, The Papers of John Adams, Robert J. Taylor, ed. (Cambridge: Belknap Press, 1977), Vol. 1, p. 81, from "'U' to the Boston Gazette" written on August 29, 1763.]

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I’ve been a member and a moderator of Paco Kelly’s leverguns.com forum since it was started several years ago.  It’s a great place to hang out when time allows and is populated by some of the finest folks on the internet.

Recently a fellow started posting there.  He goes by the name Charlie and builds guns for a hobby.  Now, a lot of folks do that anymore.  They’ll order up a bunch of parts from Brownells or Midway or one of a number of other places and put them together.  Some of the guns so produced are fairly easy to do.  Put everything in the right place and PRESTO! You’ve got a functional firearm.  Others are more demanding, requiring some filing or stoning of parts to get them to fit and function properly.  But all these have one thing in common – they rely on mass produced factory parts.  Not that I’m trying to take anything away from the folks who build a gun this way, not at all. I’m in the process of building up a Kentucky rifle from a poorly built kit that was given to me a couple years back.  It takes time and effort to get it right. Read the rest of this entry »

A while back I did a quick blurb called “When Guns Are Outlawed“. Well, since then I also read about a new knife for sale in the UK that is “stab proof”.  Haven’t seen any pics yet, but I suspect it will have something like a large flat thing welded or forged on the tip.  As shown by the pics in the article above, such measures will never defeat anyone who wants a weapon capable of stabbing someone. Read the rest of this entry »

People.  We are weird creatures. Given the ability to choose, too often we choose unwisely.  Most seem to prefer to be told what to think rather than to reason through issues themselves.  Over the years I’ve participated in various internet forums and e-mail lists, acting as moderator on a few.  In that time it has been my privilege to observe humans interacting with each other.  I was reminded today about something my friend Jim Taylor said years ago.  “The internet is a great place to talk and a poor place to communicate.“  That pretty much sums it up right there.

And it is interesting to hear folks talk on the ‘net.  Over the years it has been my pleasure to visit various internet friends in person.  And getting to talk with someone over a cup of coffee or a meal is a great way to get to know them a bit better.  Sometimes one forms an opinion about folks because of the way they “talk” on the internet. But once you get to know them personally you see a different face entirely.  And then there’s the voice.  Am I the only one who forms an “image” of what someone’s voice must sound like by reading what they write?  The first time I talked with various people was an experience – because they didn’t sound like I’d thought they would.  And what about SEEING them? That reminds me of my dad and a story he told about someone he used to talk with on the phone all the time.  He built up an image of the person based on their name and their voice. But when he met that person in person he was in for a surprise.  From physical stature to race – everything was different. Read the rest of this entry »

They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction. I wrote for them the many things of my law, but they regarded them as something alien. Hosea 8:4,12

As I was reading through Hosea recently, I came upon the verses above.  To say that they gave me food for thought is an understatement indeed.  The traditional way of thinking in our nation is that if we have a governor, president, congressman, senator or other public figure that it’s  “God’s fault”.  After all, He is the One Who sets up kings and rulers, is He not? Interestingly enough, at the time the words above were written, kings normally received their kingship by inheritance – there was little chance for public opinion to be expressed under normal circumstances.  And yet, although there was no “democratic process” such as we enjoy in modern times, they DID choose men to rule over them – and men who were not according to God’s plan or design. Today we are ruled by a constitution.  Within that constitution the means of selecting rulers is spelled out clearly and the responsibility and power of government is both spelled out and limited.  How much more responsible are we today for the rulers we choose than those who lived thousands of years ago! Read the rest of this entry »

Since I’m messing around with the blog today I thought I’d take time to say a little something about the voting process. As a US Citizen the privilege of voting is something I take seriously. I know that many of my country men do not. In fact many of them will abstain from participating this year. But I urge any of you who take the time to read my comments to take the time to express your opinion at the voting booth.

Voting is about expressing ourselves and proclaiming who our choice of representative is. It’s not about a contest between the “Two Parties”, because the US was not set up as a two party nation – even though we have mostly had two parties to choose from for the most part throughout our history (although different parties at different times). Do you know who the candidates are? And I mean ALL the candidates. The mass media has forced upon us a false paradigm in that they insist that there are only two candidates. Bob Barr, Cynthia McKinney, Chuck Baldwin and Ralph Nader are all on the ballot in many states across the nation. The media has sold us the idea that “there are only two candidates” – and it’s a lie. Some would say “Yes, but there are only two VIABLE candidates.” – but why would that be? That’s because as a nation we’ve allowed the media to control our way of thinking. I sure wish we’d turn back to the old paths and seek REAL leaders from amongst ourselves, men of character and wisdom. They still exist, but we need to seek them out and encourage them to join in the battle to retake our country from the grip of encroaching enslavement to humanistic socialism.

Dr. Del Tackett has a blog called “Truth Observed” and recently he posted some thought provoking articles on it. It looks like ol’ Noah Webster knew more than just how to write a dictionary…

Political Wisdom From Dr. Noah Webster: How To Vote

Political Wisdom From Dr. Noah Webster: Political Evils

Political Wisdom From Dr. Noah Webster: Remedy For Political Evils

Political Wisdom From Dr. Noah Webster: Defining Politics

Choosing The Lesser Of Two Evils

So now the big question is: “What are we as Christians going to do?” Are we going to give up the battle to those who wish to destroy our nation? Some maintain that they “keep their religion separate from politics” – assuming that the two can be separated. But that is only true if you do not live your faith actively. If you are truly on fire for Christ you can NOT call evil “good” nor can you call good “evil”. If you are TRULY on fire for Christ you can NOT say that those who support the murder of unborn babies or the equating of abnormal, deviant sexual behavior with God ordained marriage are representative of your ideals – IF you are on fire for Christ. We are told that we are not to be conformed to the world – we are called to be transformed. That means that we as christians are neither Democrat nor Republican – that we will vote for those who support Godly ideals rather than those who actively promote submission to the corruption fleshly desire. This doesn’t mean that we seek perfect people to represent us. It means that we seek out those who strive with us to achieve God’s design for man kind.

One of our great failings as a church has been in relinquishing our call to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and lift up the fallen to the government. That is not government’s sphere of expertise or duty – it is the church’s. The first hospitals were founded by christians. The first orphanages were too. Hmmm… come to think of it, even education was in the hands of the church for generations prior to government moving in to teach kids that 2+2 does not necessarily equal 4.

It is time for us as a people to take back our land. It is time to say “No more humanism – turn back to God.” Yes, there are great problems in our land and around the world, but no human government has the answer. It’s time for us to say “Quit muddying up the waters, get out of the way and let us show you the way.”

Psalm 81:13-34 says

13 “If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, 14 how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!

And in 1 Chronicles 7:14 it is written:

14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Now although these words were written for the jewish people, they can be applied in principle to christians as well – because like the jews we are too often eager to follow our paths rather than God’s. BUT when we turn away from our stubborn evil ways to follow His paths – He WILL bless us, and also those around us.

So if you are a US Citizen, dig deep in your heart and seek to know the way that God would guide you. Go to the polls on November 4 and choose the options that are most like God’s paths. Do not vote for those who support policies that go against the Holiness of God. Send forth a loud cry “No MORE!” and lets start taking back our nation for the Glory of God.

Three weeks ’til US elections 2008 and folks are full of doom and gloom.  The gun boards are rife with talk about “What ‘battle carbine’ should I get?”, “What magazines for my ‘battle carbine’ should I get?”, “Who has the best price on bulk ammo?”, “What are you going to do if the obamanation gets in?”, etc.  There’s a lot of speculation about what the future holds and “The End Of The World As We Know It” (otherwise known as TEOTWAWKI)  is “just around the corner”.

Now, I’m no more in favor of “The Messiah”‘s policies than the doom and gloom crowd.  His ideas of “taking from the rich to give to the poor” are just so much warmed over communist pap – policies that have failed the world over and will continue to fail because they ignore the basic problem.  The basic problem being the fallen nature of man as well as the vastly differing talents and abilities of mankind which mean that you can NEVER have a “level playing field” by stealing from one to give to another.  The best we can do is to provide freedom so that each person can reach the place that they are able to reach without government’s encumbering “help”.  The only system that has ever allowed such freedom was put into place in 1787 when the US Constitution was ratified.  And that system was based on Biblical principles and a Biblical world view.  No, it was not necessarily “inspired by God” but the men who wrote it and who ratified it had an overwhelmingly biblical world view even though they differed greatly in their understanding of God’s will for mankind.  And that foundation gave rise to the freest society that the world has known where each was able to reach as high as his abilities would take him.  In the past few decades, however, that freedom has gradually eroded due to the encroaching tenets of socialism/communism which decree that the state is the possessor of all and that none have any rights which are not permitted/granted by the state.  This philosophy flies in the face of “We hold these truths to be self evident, that that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…” Those words are also part of our founding, being taken from the Declaration if Independence and predating the constitution by just over a decade, and show the mentality and ideas of those who set the course for the nation.

But now, over two centuries after the founding, we have become a nation which denies that God has a role in our day to day lives.  We’ve turned our backs on our Creator and we’ve enshrined each person’s darkest urges as “unalienable rights” while denying that rights have any source other than the government.  We’ve turned our backs on godliness and placed unprincipled people at the helm of our nation.  Is it any wonder that the ship of state seems about to run aground?  Someone once observed that a democracy will only last until the people learn that they can “vote themselves largess from the public coffers”. With the recent “bailout” – not to mention decades of government funded “welfare” – we have proven that as a nation we have indeed learned to “vote ourselves largess” from the public coffers as each representative and senator seeks to bring as much pork home as possible, ignoring the greater good of the nation as a whole.

But, is it time for doom and gloom?  I think not.  Recently a friend sent me a few verses which I share with you here.

Proverbs 16:33 -Make your motions and cast your votes, but God has the final say. (The Message)

Daniel 4:32 – … the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.” (NIV)

Daniel 5:21 - ” …. the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes. “(NIV)

Acts 17:26 – “From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.” (NLT)

As Christians we need to remember that the Lord is Sovereign and that He is in control.  When a nation turns away from God they can only expect to lose His blessing.  I’m reminded of the following passage from 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12

They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

WOW!  As a nation that pretty much sums us up, doesn’t it?  I can’t believe how folks are eating up the lies and deceptions being told by “The One”.  And yet when I look at how we as a nation “delight in wickedness” (how else can you describe our acceptance of every form of degeneration and how as a nation we embrace things that God has called “abominations”) I understand why God sent us this powerful delusion and also that those who believe the lie will be condemned.

So, doom and gloom?  Why?  We are seeing the natural outcome of a nation that turns away from God.  I saw the years between Bushes as a wakeup call to the nation.  And yet we slept on, ignoring the need to turn back to God’s path and hardening our hearts against Him.  Come what may, the Lord is in control and that’s all I need to know.  As Christians it may become more and more difficult and we may come under greater and greater persecution.  But what can compare with those who gave their lives for the Gospel over the centuries?  We’ve not yet reached the point of being thrown to the lions or burned at the stake – at least not in the west.  Folks in the east have been undergoing horrible persecutions for decades.  More people gave their lives for the Gospel in the twentieth century than in all the preceding centuries combined – and the western church slept on, complacent in her wealth and comfort.

Rather than doom and gloom we need to be preaching victory in Jesus the Christ – the TRUE Messiah.  If people will turn to Him then it matters not what goes on around them, they will be at peace.  And that is where our job lays, dear reader – in proclaiming the Gospel of Truth to all those around us and in calling them to repentance and new life through Christ who gave His Life to set us free from our bondage to sin.

It’s been a while since I’ve taken time to just write “something”… or anything, for that matter. I guess getting old is tough – it took me a whole month + to do it in.

Today the topic is due to thoughts generated by the horrific occurrences of September 11, 2001. It is inevitable that our minds should turn to such thoughts on the anniversary of that event. Many are remembering “where I was” when they heard “the news”. Me? I was visiting Deane and Bijie in NE Colorado, getting ready to head out for a speaking date at a Bible college up in Nebraska. I walked upstairs and found them sitting with coffee cups in hand, watching the news. “One of the Twin Towers was hit by a plane!” they informed me. “One of the WHAT?” is the unspoken question the flashed in my brain. I’ve never held NY to be “the center of the universe” as some do, much less put much importance in most of her “landmarks”, so I’d little idea of what they were talking about.

They handed me a cup of coffee and we sat there watching the news unfold. I’d been there just a bit when we saw the second plane strike the second tower. At that point I knew we were at war and that the world would never be the same as it was before. Later that day as I headed north I stopped in most towns along the way to top off the gas tank and saw the prices steadily climbing into regions that would not be normal for several more years. The news kept drifting in via the radio. The President is somewhere unknown. The vice president is also hidden away. All air traffic is shut down over the entire nation. Another plane has hit the Pentagon. Another plane has crashed. The immensity of the event was slowly increasing in the national awareness – but I knew that our lesson was not learned.

That bit of knowledge was confirmed a few days later as I headed back home to Colombia. As I sat in the airport in Miami talking with an elderly couple I found out that my premonition was right. They had confiscated the EMBROIDERY NEEDLE and the 1/2″ SEWING SCISSORS of a white, protestant, grandmother missionary on her way back to her station on Colombia’s Caribbean coast (but ignored the more potentially lethal sharp steel ink pen in her husband’s shirt pocket) . Not only that, they were wanding women’s brassiers and acting as if EVERYONE was a potential terrorist hijacker – ignoring the commonality of ethnic and religious background of the perpetrators – an ethnicity and religion that is foreign to the typical US citizen and not too hard to spot. But as a nation we put our head in the sand and started to play the “I don’t really know who my enemy is” game.

Prior to September 11, 2001 I regularly carried my usual 3″ bladed pocket knife on board airplanes. At no point did I ever feel the urge to cut throats and crash the plane into a towering building, it was just a tool, an instrument for peeling oranges, opening letters, trimming string, cleaning fingernails and myriad other mundane daily tasks. But there is a mentality, Jeff Cooper – deceased – called it “hoplophobia” (the fear of instruments), that believes that inanimate objects cause violence and mayhem. I saw this yesterday as I read an article in a newspaper from Cali about the sport of Olympic Trap shooting. The “reporter” asked “don’t you ever get the feeling that your ‘wires may cross’ when you pick up a weapon?” (referring to “getting the urge” to simply shoot someone) This is the mentality that refuses to accept that some people have a deeply seated problem called sin – that it is the PERSON who makes the decision to do harm, not the inanimate object. As much as some people claim to be “enlightened” and “educated” and “modern” – they still hold a superstitious fear of “talismans” that supposedly by themselves can cause harm. The calm and rational analysis of this situation reveals that the item itself is incapable of doing ANYTHING without the intervention of some person. A knife or a gun or a baseball bat or a chair leg or any other potential weapon will merely lay there until some PERSON picks it up and uses it – for good or for bad. People are the problem, not objects. And learning to discern WHO is probably going to cause harm would do us a lot more good than a bunch of mindless knee jerk rules to prohibit objects.

It has been shown that the majority of crimes are committed by a minority of the criminals. When a house is burglarized or a woman or child is raped you can lay a fairly safe bet that the perpetrator is a prior offender. They may not have been caught before, but the odds are that they have done this crime before. And when it comes to the type of crime that was committed on September 11, 2001 there is yet another factor – that of religiously inspired hatred. It has been shown that there a number of similar atrocities that have been committed over the decades prior to September 11, 2001 that can be linked to people similar to those who committed the acts of terrorism against the United States on that date. They were all committed by Muslim men between 18 and 40 years of age. By pointing out this fact I’m not attempting to engender racial or religious bigotry or hatred, but rather raising a red flag. When you see bombing after bombing committed by the same demographic – does it make sense to stick your head in the sand and pretend that EVERYONE will do the same type of thing? Think back to 1941 to 1945. Who were the “Kamikaze”? They were not white protestant women. They were not italian catholic men. They were not even German Third Reich soldiers – they were Japanese soldiers trained and prepared for this type of attack. Interesting to note – they too were inspired by their religion to give their lives to take out others.

So, seven years later, we are now treating everyone as an enemy when they go through the airport “security system.” We are pretending that the arthritic grandmother from Racine Wisconsin is at least as big of a threat as the young Arab man with a one way ticket and a tourist visa. In fact, our rules and regulations FORBID screeners from noticing that someone is a muslim male and treating them to well deserved scrutiny. Many occurrences have shown that screeners “randomly” choose an obviously NON muslim to fondle while a group of possibly radical extremist muslims waltz through the “security” checkpoint – just to prove that we aren’t “profiling” and are “being fair”.

Along with the varied thoughts on airway travel and taking down buildings with planes come thoughts about the upcoming election. Many are saying “If so and so becomes president the world will end, our nation will be destroyed and all hope is lost!” (Both sides of the political turmoil claim this) But the truth of the matter is – no matter WHO becomes president they will have arrived at that position with the consent and assistance of the general populace. No matter which way the winds blow they will NOT arrive at the White House “from nowhere” nor from another planet – they will have arisen from amongst the entire nation. The problem is not “who’s President” or “who’s going to be President” but rather “who are the people who are choosing their candidates and ushering them into office?” I’m amazed at the general lack of godly characteristics of the majority of the candidates this time around. Is this really “the best” we can do as a nation? If so, we are indeed in deep trouble – because we have allowed our godly principles to sink into virtual oblivion. This year, once more, we will choose from amongst ourselves the person we feel best represents who we are as a nation. Our choice will reflect what we have become – for good or for ill. Our choice will NOT “signal the end of all we are” – it will merely reflect what we have become.

Our only true hope as a nation is to repent from the sin of turning away from our Creator and to turn back to His Paths and His Will in our daily lives. We can not live for the devil and expect God to bless us when we choose a leader. We can only expect our daily life and our daily choices as a nation to be reflected in the leader who is finally chosen to govern over us.

The big question is – what will this year’s election say about what we have become as a nation?

… “our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” how strange those words sound to modern ears, words which are in little use and poorly comprehended by our current “civilization” in which anything goes, just so long as “number one” is taken care of.  And yet, that is what the signers of the Declaration of Independence pledged to each other.  They knew that they were in grave danger from the king and his minions – and yet they put their names down and thus passed into the pages of history, founding the greatest bastion of freedom the world has yet known.

A careful reading of the document shows that the very abuses laid out by the signers of the declaration are things which today’s people do not understand.  Too many have sold their freedom for “security” and when one cries “but the emperor has no clothes!” they act as though one were crazy – and blind.

232 years have passed since that fateful signing – it is time for our nation to read once more those words and to reflect upon them.  Do we still believe in these values?

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.

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 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 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 harass 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 benefit 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 rule 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 & 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.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton