Declaration Project

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 […]

Magna Carta – a.k.a. Declaration of the Rule of Law (June 12, 1215)

Editor’s Note: Often referred to as the ‘Declaration of the rule of law,’ the Magna Carta, or ‘Great Charter,’ was enacted in 1215, the culmination of the efforts of English barons to limit monarchical rule and enumerate rights for the people (especially people like them). In one of its most-known clauses, the Magna Carta states that “No […]

The Declaratory Act of the British Parliament (1766)

Editor’s note: Great Britain’s powers that be tried their own hand at declaration crafting during the revolutionary era. Parliament’s aim was to put the colonists in their place — but their Declaratory Act only served to make them more unified against king and parliament over the longer haul. After repealing the loathed Stamp Act of 1765, Britain […]

‘Declarations of our humble opinion respecting the most essential rights and liberties of the colonists’ (Declaration of Rights of Stamp Act Congress) — Declaration of Rights and Grievances, October 19, 1765

Editor’s Note: These resolutions are described by the First Continental Congress as tantamount to “declarations of our humble opinion, respecting the most essential rights and liberties Of the colonists, and of the grievances under which they labour, by reason of several late Acts of Parliament.” The aim is “to procure the repeal of the Act […]

Declaration of Rights and Grievances, October 14, 1774

Editor’s Note:  Well over a year and a half before our July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence was issued, our First Continental Congress came out with a declaration — of rights and grievances — that was prepared and sent to King George III in England, where it promptly fell upon deaf ears, and as a […]

Anne Arundel County, MD, Resolves of Independence (June 22, 1776)

Editor’s Note: Describing themselves as ‘Associators’ (which brings to mind the sundry clusters of voluntary associations that banded together in the years preceding the march toward revolution — formed to combat effective the increasingly onerous acts imposed by King and Parliament — this resolve for independence in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, aims in part to generate a […]

English Bill of Rights of 1689

Editor’s Note: From grievances such ‘taxation without representation,’ having a standing army in a time of peace, and other usurpations of power by king and parliament, to enumerated rights like freedom of speech and the right to be governed only with the people’s consent, Our  Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776 was clearly influenced by the English Bill of […]