Tuesday 19 November 2013

What were the complaints against the king of England in the Declaration of Independence?

Here are some complaints about the king in the Declaration of Independence:


He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.



Translation: The king has refused to pass certain laws that would benefit the citizens of the colonies.



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.



Translation: The Governors of the Colonies cannot pass emergency laws to address emergency situations, because all laws must go through the king himself.



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.



Translation: He is making colonial legislatures travel great distances to spitefully make extra work for the lawmakers and to pressure them into giving him what he wanted in the first place.



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



Translation: He has refused to allow the colonies to develop their own court systems for enforcement of their own laws.



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.


For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us.



Translation: Without our agreement, he has created large armies, prevented us from controlling those armies, and forced us to find housing for those armies.



For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:



This one needs no translation, but it's a very important one!



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.



Translation: He has tried to rile up our enemies on the continent, including our own rebels and the Native American tribes.


There are quite a few more; take a look at the text itself for the long list.

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