The Newsman · culture

USA AT 250! HAVE YOU EVER DARED TO READ THE DANGEROUS TREASON OF 1776?

Mother Jones · 2026-07-04

The article frames the Declaration of Independence as a "dangerous document" that asserts the people's right to overthrow an unjust government, drawing parallels between the historical grievances against King George III and alleged "usurpations" by a contemporary U.S. presidential administration. By presenting the Declaration's full text, the author encourages readers to engage with this foundational document, implying its principles remain crucial for understanding the limits of governmental power and for actively preserving the American republic.

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### **REVOLUTION RUMBLING! OUR FOUNDATION — A DANGEROUS DOCUMENT? SCHOLARS UNCOVER EXPLOSIVE TRUTH!**

**NATION'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE BRANDED "PERILOUS PARCHMENT" AS AMERICA NEARS 250!**

**WASHINGTON D.C. – (DATELINE: THE CAPITAL OF THE FREE WORLD)** – Hark, citizens! On a sun-drenched morn, just a week shy of this grand republic's Quarter-Millennium Jubilee, our intrepid scribe embarked on a constitutional, tuning his ear to the wireless wonders of Jon Stewart's latest confab. And what startling revelations leaped from the ether waves!

Indeed, dear reader, in a pow-wow with two scholarly titans – Yale's David Blight and Harvard's Annette Gordon-Reed – a truth both profound and frankly, a bit unsettling, was laid bare for all to ponder. These intellectual heavyweights, without a shadow of a doubt, proclaimed our very own **Declaration of Independence** a "dangerous document"!

**A "DANGEROUS DOCUMENT,"** they cried! And why, you ask? Because, you see, this hallowed scroll, penned by the eloquent hand of Thomas Jefferson and his cohorts, dares to plant the seed of insurrection! It brazenly champions the undeniable right of the common man, when pushed to the brink, to rise up and **TOPPLE THE TYRANT!** To cast off the shackles of an unjust ruler! Talk about a hot potato, eh?

And here’s where the plot thickens, folks! Our very own gumshoes of journalism, David Corn and Tim Murphy, sounded the alarm exactly one year ago. They dug deep into the past, comparing the catalogue of grievances against King George III – the very list that ignited our nation's birth – with the shenanigans of certain present-day politicos! And what did they unearth? An uncanny echo! The same grasping power plays, the same high-handed usurpations that spurred our forefathers to revolt, seem to ripple through the headlines of our own tumultuous times!

Whether you’re a high-hat capitalist or a champion of the common man, from the bustling avenues of industry to the quiet corners of socialist thought, this newspaper implores you: **WAKE UP, AMERICA!** Get your mitts on this foundational parchment! It's no cumbersome tome, but a potent brew of liberty, offering a stark, illuminating light on the righteous indignation that once swelled in the hearts of men – flawed, perhaps, but heroes nonetheless – who dared to lay the very cornerstone of this grand American experiment!

Remember the sage warning of that venerable old-timer, Benjamin Franklin, back in '87? When quizzed if we had a Republic or a Monarchy, he famously quipped: **"A republic, if you can keep it."** A challenge, my friends, flung across the ages, echoing still in our own ears!

And so, with bated breath, we turn the page, ceding the stage to the very words that ignited a nation! Hearken, America, to the hallowed declaration that birthed a free people!

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**THE BOLD WORDS THAT FORGED A NATION!**

**FULL TEXT — UNABRIDGED!**

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**IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776.**

**THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.**

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,

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

**JOHN HANCOCK, PRESIDENT OF THE CONGRESS, AND HIS BRAVE COMRADES!**

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**HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA! MAY YOUR LIBERTY NEVER BE DIMMED!**

Bullets

Here are 5 concise bullets from the article:
Historians David Blight and Annette Gordon-Reed consider the Declaration of Independence a "dangerous document" due to its emphasis on the right of people to overthrow an unjust ruler, a theme noted to have contemporary relevance by the article's author.
The Declaration asserts that all individuals are created equal, endowed with unalienable rights including Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, and that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.
It states that when a government becomes destructive of these rights through a "long train of abuses and usurpations," it is the right and duty of the people to alter or abolish it and institute a new one.
The document lists numerous grievances against King George III, detailing how his actions demonstrated a design to establish an "absolute Tyranny" over the Colonies, justifying their separation.
Ultimately, the Declaration formally proclaims the United Colonies as Free and Independent States, absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, with full power to engage in all acts sovereign nations may rightfully do.

Poem

On a dawn approaching America’s two hundred and fiftieth,

A walk in the glory of morning, the air still and swift,

Jon Stewart's voice through a podcast did gleam,

Unfurling a tale, a foundational dream.

With historians keen, from Yale and from Harv’ard,

The Declaration they weighed, a truth to be grav’ard:

"A dangerous document," they named it, profound,

For the right of the people, when tyrants are crowned,

To rise up and shatter the chains they have borne,

And from unjust rulers, their liberty torn.

Indeed, as colleagues once pointed and swore,

The acts of that King, from a distant shore,

Echo the murmurs of rule we now face,

A mirror of usurpations, in time and in space.

Believe it or not, let the factions divide,

But read the old words, where the principles hide.

Not terribly long, though old tongues it may keep,

It offers a glimpse of the spirit so deep,

Of flawed, fervent men, who cast forth a grand plea,

For freedom's bold dawn, for the land of the free.

Ben Franklin, the sage, with a wisdom so clear,

"A republic," he mused, "if you can keep it, my dear."

Now to Jefferson’s quill, and his peers, let us turn,

Where the fire of purpose forever shall burn.

**The Declaration: A Poetic Echo**

When in the long course of humanity's stride,

A people must cast their old allegiancies aside,

To claim on this earth, a separate, equal renown,

By Nature's own Law, and its God, laid down,

Then a decent respect to the world we must give,

To declare the deep causes, for why we must live,

As distinct and unbound, from the bonds we have known,

To stand on our principles, and walk on our own.

These truths we hold fast, as if etched in the sky,

All people are equal, beneath the same eye,

Endowed by their Maker, with rights that can't cease,

Life, Liberty's breath, and the Pursuit of Peace,

Of Happiness's chase, through the days and the night.

To secure these deep rights, governments take flight,

Deriving their power, from the people's consent,

A pact made in trust, on their welfare intent.

But whenever a form, though once fair and so bright,

Becomes a dark shadow, consuming the light,

Destroying these ends, and turning to harm,

Then the People's own Right, and their duty to arm,

Against such a rule, to abolish, to break,

And new forms of power, for their safety to make.

Though prudence may whisper, and counsel delay,

To suffer long wrongs, and not cast them away,

While evils are bearable, a meek spirit abides,

But when long trains of wrong, like a dark ocean tides,

Seek to drown them in chains, under despotic hand,

It's their right, and their duty, to rise in the land,

To cast off the oppressor, and set new guards in place,

For security's future, and freedom's sweet grace.

Such long-suffering patience, these Colonies knew,

Now necessity calls, to build systems anew.

The King's weary history, a litany long,

Of injuries piled, and of ceaseless wrong,

To forge a dark Tyranny, absolute and grand.

Let facts now be laid, for the world to understand:

He refused vital Laws, for the public's own good,

And forbade others still, misunderstood,

Unless they suspended, awaiting his nod,

Then neglected them wholly, a tyrannical god.

He denied representation, a right held so dear,

To the tyrant a terror, dispelling all fear.

Called forth our lawmakers to places remote,

To weary their spirits, to stifle their vote.

Our Houses dissolved, for their firmness of stand,

Against his invasions, across the whole land.

Then long years he waited, no elections would call,

Leaving legislative power, to the people for all,

Exposing our States, to the dangers of fight,

From without, and from within, in the day and the night.

He obstructed our growth, with a purposeful hand,

Denied naturalization, to populate the land,

Refused laws for migrants, raised terms on the soil,

To prevent our expansion, and deepen our toil.

Justice he hindered, with a kingly decree,

By refusing good laws, for the judiciary.

Made judges dependent, on his will alone,

For their office, their wages, his power was shown.

A multitude of offices, his hand did erect,

Sent swarms of new officers, our lives to dissect,

To harass our people, and eat out their gain.

In peace, he kept armies, a constant, dark stain,

Without our consent, a force to oppress.

Made military rule, the civil transgress.

He combined with new forces, a foreign command,

To subject us to laws, not known in our land,

Assented to acts, of legislation so false:

For quartering soldiers, in our homes, without pause.

For shielding their deeds, with a mock trial's design,

From murder's foul taint, in a cruel, unjust line.

For cutting our commerce, with all the world's shore.

Imposed taxes unconsented, demanding still more.

Denied trial by jury, in cases too many to count.

Transported us seaward, for offenses paramount.

Abolished our laws, in a province nearby,

Set arbitrary rule, beneath a new sky,

Enlarged its dark borders, a pattern to cast,

For absolute rule, in our colonies, fast.

Took charters, abolished our most precious laws,

And changed our own governments, without common cause.

Suspended our own Legislatures, so free,

Declared themselves sovereign, to rule you and me,

In all cases whatever, a power untamed.

He abdicated his rule, our protection disclaimed,

And waged war against us, with fire and with sword.

Plundered our seas, our coasts he deplored,

Burnt down our towns, and destroyed our dear lives.

Now transports foreign legions, where cruelty thrives,

Mercenaries ruthless, for death and despair,

A perfidy cruel, beyond all compare,

Unworthy the head of a nation refined.

Forced citizens captured, to leave country behind,

To bear arms against brethren, to execute friend,

Or fall by their hand, to a merciless end.

Stirred up insurrections, from within our own walls,

Brought savages merciless, at his beck and his calls,

Whose warfare of terror, knows no age, sex, or plight,

An undistinguished destruction, through darkness and light.

In every oppression, our petitions we sent,

In humblest of terms, our redress was meant.

But repeated the injury, with each fervent plea.

A Prince marked by tyrant, can never be free,

To rule a free people, whose spirit so burns.

Nor to British brethren, our kindness he turns.

We warned them of rule, beyond warrant or claim,

Reminded their conscience, of whence we all came.

Appealed to their justice, their magnanimity true,

By kinship's deep bonds, their false actions to eschew.

But deaf were their ears, to justice's pure sound.

So, separation is needed, on hallowed new ground.

As foes in the war, but as friends in our peace,

We hold them as mankind, when conflicts may cease.

Therefore, we, the representatives, gathered as one,

In Congress united, beneath freedom's sun,

To the Judge of the world, our intentions we yield,

In the Name, and by Authority, on this hallowed field,

Of the good people here, do solemnly declare,

These United Colonies, their burdens to bear,

Are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States,

Absolved from the Crown, and from all bitter fates,

All political ties, to Great Britain must break,

And as free, sovereign nations, their own path they take.

With full power to wage war, to make peace, to ally,

Establish all commerce, beneath freedom's sky,

And do all the acts, that Free States have a right.

For this sacred Declaration, with a spirit so bright,

With firm reliance on Providence, divine and so deep,

Our Lives, our dear Fortunes, our sacred Honor, we keep,

And pledge to each other, a bond strong and true.

Happy Birthday, America, reborn and anew!