The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense Ten-Point Platform and Program — “A combination of a Bill of Rights and a Declaration of Independence” (1967)
Editor’s note: This document is characterized by Huey P. Newton, co-founder in 1966 with Bobby Seale of the radical Black Panther Party, as a “combination of a Bill of Rights and a Declaration of Independence.” Officially called “The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense Ten-Point Platform and Program, it was crafted and then published by the […]
Declaration of Common Aims of the Independent Mid-European Nations (1918)
Editor’s note: A veritable declaration of independence was issued on October 26, 1918, after leaders of mid-European nations convened in for several days at Independence Hall in Philadelphia — of all places — shortly before the ending of World War I and the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian empire. Thomas Masaryk, a professor who would become […]
Everywhere in the World
MyDeclaration My name is Stewart Harris, and I declare that I can never hope to say anything about freedom as profound as what Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in his State of the Union Message of 1941: “In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four […]
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 […]
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 […]
Act of Abjuration – a.k.a. Dutch Declaration of Independence (1581)
Editor’s note: Popularly known as ‘the Dutch Declaration of Independence,’ this document — formally entitled the Act of Abjuration — Plakkaat van Verlatinghe in Dutch (literally “placard of desertion”) — was the collective product in July 26, 1581 of leaders of a group of northern Dutch provinces who asserted their independence from Spanish rule. Though it is […]
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 […]
Declaration of Equality, by Fredric K. Schroeder, National Federation of the Blind (July 5, 2007)
Editor’s note: This declaration of equality, composed by Fredric K. Schroeder, First Vice President of the National Federation of the Blind and a research professor at San Diego State University, draws upon our July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Lincoln’s Gettysburg address in making its stirring case for equal rights for the blind. […]
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 Sentiments of the American Anti-Slavery Convention, 1833.
Editor’s Note: The prominent abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison asserts in this declaration, the composition of which he spearheaded, that slavery is a moral evil and that “every American citizen, who detains a human being in involuntary bondage as his property, is, according to Scripture, (Ex. xxi. 16,) a man-stealer”. Garrison’s, whose deeds matched his rhetoric, co-founded the […]
