Think Florida has no connection to the Declaration of
Independence? Actually Florida played a large role in
the lives of four of the signers, three of whom
celebrated the first Independence Day in Florida on
July 4, 1781.
While there are some prominent names among the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, most of the
men who added their names to that document in the summer of 1776 remain unknown even to history buffs.
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,
The original Declaration is now exhibited in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom in Washington, DC. It
has faded badly, largely because of poor preservation techniques during the 19th century. The document
measures 29-3/4 inches by 24-1/2 inches.
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.
