The Preamble of THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
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.
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独立宣言 序言
1776年7月4日
美利坚合众国十三个州议会一致通过的宣言。在人类事务发展的过程中，当一个民族必须解除同另一个民族的联系，并按照
自然法则和上帝的
旨意，以独立平等的身份立于世界列国之林时，出于对人类舆论的尊重，必须把驱使他们独立的原因予以宣布。我们认为下述真理是不言而喻的：人人生而平等，造物主赋予了他们若干不可让渡的权利，其中包括生命权、自由权和追求幸福的权利。为了保障这些权利，人们才在他们中间建立了政府，而政府的正当权利，则来自被统治者的同意。任何形式的政府一旦对这些目标的实现起破坏作用时，人民便有权予以更换或废除，以建立一个新的政府。新政府所依据的原则和组织其权利的方式，务使人民认为唯有这样才最有可能使他们获得安全和幸福。