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 for the opinions of Mankind require 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.