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.