Irish Declaration of Independence (1919)
Editor’s note: On January 21, 1919, the Assembly of Ireland both initiated a War of Independence (“Cogadh na Saoirse” in Irish) against British forces and issued a formal declaration of independence. The guerrilla campaign ended almost 2 1/2 years later with the ceasefire in July 21, followed by the Anglo-Irish Treaty on December 6, 1921. With […]
Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (1998)
Editor’s Note: This declaration was adopted in 1998 in Geneva, at the 86th session of the International Labor Conference, the declaration of the International Labor Organization — a United Nations agency that focuses on labor issues and that received in 1969 the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to achieve social and economic just […]
An Initial Declaration Towards a Global Ethic (September 4, 1993)
Editor’s Note: The first draft of this declaration was composed by the Swiss Catholic priest and scholar Dr. Hans Kung — known for his rejection of the notion of papal infallibility — and then was further worked on by approximately 200 scholars affiliated with many of the world’s principal faith traditions. It aims to set forth a global ethic […]
Universal Declaration of Non-Violence (1990)
Editor’s note: The genesis of this declaration was a series of conversations between the Dalai Lama and Bro. Wayne Teasdale, a Catholic monk and noted author and social justice activist. Over time, as the late Bro. Teasdale describes it, they “examined the possibility of a statement formally separating religion from any relationship with organized violence, […]
The Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World (1920)
Editor’s note: On August 13, 1920, this declaration of black grievances, rights and principles was drafted and adopted at a convention of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, presided over by Marcus Garvey, a leading advocate of Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism. Garvey had a sizable following of disenfranchised black Americans — as demonstrated by the more than 20,000 […]
Declaration of Independence from the War in Vietnam (1967)
Editor’s note: This speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered at the Riverside Church in Manhattan precisely one year to the day he was assassinated, was entitled Declaration of Independence from the War in Vietnam. King was widely excoriated by mainstream media at the time for characterizing U.S. involvement in the war as a grave mistake, and […]
Declaration of War on Poverty in America (1964)
Editor’s Note: This declaration was not written on parchment, but rather was issued about halfway through President Johnson’s first State of the Union Address. It was LBJ’s opening salvo in “unconditional war on poverty in America.” Johnson considered it vital “to declare war on a domestic enemy which threatens the strength of our nation and […]
Declaration of Dependence by the Children of America in Mines and Factories and Workshops Assembled (ca. 1910)
Editor’s Note: Journalist, Presbyterian minister and child labor advocate Alexander J. McKelway (1866-1918), who was instrumental in early efforts to enact legislation to address child labor reform, crafted this concise “declaration of dependence” — really a declaration of children’s rights — sometime between 1910 and 1913, though he claims its true authors are all of America’s […]
UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2009)
Editor’s Note: On September 13, 2007, this ground-breaking declaration was approved by the UN General Assembly, with 144 states voting in favor, with four — the U.S., Canada, New Zealand and Australia, which have large indigenous populations — voting against, and with 11 states abstaining. Australia endorsed the document, which is not legally binding, on […]
Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 1928
Editor’s Note: A precursor to the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child, this 1928 document was adapted by the members of the League of Nations. It is unprecedented in that it sets forth for the first time in a formal international accord that children have rights and that adults have responsibilities towards assuring […]
