I HAVE A DREAM   Martin Luther King, Jr. 

  I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the  history of our nation.    Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation  Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been  seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.    But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly  crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a  lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still  languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today  to dramatize a shameful condition.    In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent  words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every  American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be  guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has  defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred  obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."    But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the  great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand  the riches of freedom and the security of justice.    We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in  the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of  democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.  Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time  to make justice a reality for all of God's children.    It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's  legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty‐three is  not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will  have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America  until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our  nation until the bright day of justice emerges.    But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of  justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy  our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the  high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again  and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.    The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white  people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their  destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our  freedom.    We cannot walk alone.   

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.    We cannot turn back.    There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as  long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our  bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities.  We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be  satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self‐hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites  Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has  nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters,  and righteousness like a mighty stream."¹    I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh  from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest ‐‐ quest for freedom left you battered  by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative  suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to  Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our  northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.    Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.    And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in  the American dream.    I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to  be self‐evident, that all men are created equal."    I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners  will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.    I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with  the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.    I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their  skin but by the content of their character.    I have a dream today!    I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the  words of "interposition" and "nullification" ‐‐ one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able  to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.    I have a dream today!    I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough  places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and  all flesh shall see it together."2    This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.    With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to  transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able 

to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together,  knowing that we will be free one day.    And this will be the day ‐‐ this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:    My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.    Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,    From every mountainside, let freedom ring!    And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.    And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.    Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.    Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.    Let freedom ring from the snow‐capped Rockies of Colorado.    Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.    But not only that:    Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.    Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.    Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.    From every mountainside, let freedom ring.    And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from  every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men,  Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:                    Free at last! Free at last!                    Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!3 

Page XLV

1 The delegates of the United Colonies of New Hampshire; Mas-

sachusetts Bay; Rhode Island and Providence Plantations; Con-

necticut; New York; New Jersey; Pennsylvania; New Castle,

Kent, and Sussex, in Delaware; Maryland; Virginia; North Caro-

lina, and South Carolina, In Congress assembled at Philadelphia,

Resolved on the 10th of May, 1776, to recommend to the respec-

tive assemblies and conventions of the United Colonies, where no

government sufficient to the exigencies of their affairs had been

established, to adopt such a government as should, in the opin-

ion of the representatives of the people, best conduce to the hap-

piness and safety of their constituents in particular, and of

America in general. A preamble to this resolution, agreed to on

the 15th of May, stated the intention to be totally to suppress

the exercise of every kind of authority under the British crown.

On the 7th of June, certain resolutions respecting independency

were moved and seconded. On the 10th of June it was resolved,

that a committee should be appointed to prepare a declaration

to the following effect: ‘‘That the United Colonies are, and of

right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are ab-

solved from all allegiance to the British crown; and that all po-

litical connection between them and the State of Great Britain

is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.’’ On the preceding day it

was determined that the committee for preparing the declara-

tion should consist of five, and they were chosen accordingly, in

the following order: Mr. Jefferson, Mr. J. Adams, Mr. Franklin,

Mr. Sherman, Mr. R. R. Livingston. On the 11th of June a resolu-

tion was passed to appoint a committee to prepare and digest

the form of a confederation to be entered into between the colo-

nies, and another committee to prepare a plan of treaties to be

proposed to foreign powers. On the 12th of June, it was resolved,

that a committee of Congress should be appointed by the name

of a board of war and ordnance, to consist of five members. On

the 25th of June, a declaration of the deputies of Pennsylvania,

met in provincial conference, expressing their willingness to

concur in a vote declaring the United Colonies free and inde-

pendent States, was laid before Congress and read. On the 28th

of June, the committee appointed to prepare a declaration of

independence brought in a draught, which was read, and ordered

to lie on the table. On the 1st of July, a resolution of the conven-

tion of Maryland, passed the 28th of June, authorizing the depu-

ties of that colony to concur in declaring the United Colonies

free and independent States, was laid before Congress and read.

On the same day Congress resolved itself into a committee of the

whole, to take into consideration the resolution respecting inde-

pendency. On the 2d of July, a resolution declaring the colonies

free and independent States, was adopted. A declaration to that

effect was, on the same and the following days, taken into fur-

ther consideration. Finally, on the 4th of July, the Declaration

of Independence was agreed to, engrossed on paper, signed by

John Hancock as president, and directed to be sent to the sev-

eral assemblies, conventions, and committees, or councils of

safety, and to the several commanding officers of the continen-

tal troops, and to be proclaimed in each of the United States,

and at the head of the Army. It was also ordered to be entered

upon the Journals of Congress, and on the 2d of August, a copy

engrossed on parchment was signed by all but one of the fifty-

six signers whose names are appended to it. That one was Mat-

thew Thornton, of New Hampshire, who on taking his seat in No-

vember asked and obtained the privilege of signing it. Several

who signed it on the 2d of August were absent when it was adopt-

ed on the 4th of July, but, approving of it, they thus signified

their approbation.

NOTE.—The proof of this document, as published above, was

read by Mr. Ferdinand Jefferson, the Keeper of the Rolls at the

Department of State, at Washington, who compared it with the

fac-simile of the original in his custody. He says: ‘‘In the fac-

simile, as in the original, the whole instrument runs on without

a break, but dashes are mostly inserted. I have, in this copy, fol-

lowed the arrangement of paragraphs adopted in the publication

of the Declaration in the newspaper of John Dunlap, and as

printed by him for the Congress, which printed copy is inserted

in the original Journal of the old Congress. The same paragraphs

are also made by the author, in the original draught preserved

in the Department of State.’’

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE—1776 1

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united

States of America

WHEN in the Course of human events, it be-

comes 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 man-

kind 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 en-

dowed 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 Gov-

ernment 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. Pru-

dence, indeed, will dictate that Governments

long established should not be changed for light

and transient causes; and accordingly all experi-

ence hath shewn, that mankind are more dis-

posed 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 invari-

ably 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 secu-

rity.—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 re-

peated injuries and usurpations, all having in di-

rect 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 sus-

pended in their operation till his Assent should

be obtained; and when so suspended, he has ut-

terly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other Laws for the ac-

commodation of large districts of people, unless

those people would relinquish the right of Rep-

resentation in the Legislature, a right inestima-

ble to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at

places unusual, uncomfortable, and distance

VerDate Aug 31 2005 08:33 Feb 15, 2008 Jkt 040101 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5820 Sfmt 5820 Y:\TS\2006MAIN\2006V1.MN\V1PRE4.MN BOB

Page XLVI THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE—1776

from the depository of their public Records, for

the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compli-

ance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses re-

peatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his

invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dis-

solutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby

the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihila-

tion, 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 Appro-

priations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Jus-

tice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for estab-

lishing 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 harass our peo-

ple, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace,

Standing Armies without the Consent of our leg-

islatures.

He has affected to render the Military inde-

pendent 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 Con-

sent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits

of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried

for pretended offenses:

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 ex-

ample 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 de-

claring themselves invested with power to legis-

late for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declar-

ing 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 scarce-

ly paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and to-

tally 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 In-

dian 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 an-

swered 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 magnanim-

ity, and we have conjured them by the ties of

our common kindred to disavow these usurpa-

tions, which, would inevitably interrupt our

connections and correspondence. They too have

been deaf to the voice of justice and of con-

sanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the

necessity, which denounces our Separation, and

hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, En-

emies 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 Peo-

ple of these Colonies, solemnly publish and de-

clare, That these United Colonies are, and of

Right ought to be FREE AND INDEPENDENT

STATES; that they are Absolved from all Alle-

giance to the British Crown, and that all politi-

cal connection between them and the State of

Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dis-

solved; 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 Inde-

pendent States may of right do. And for the sup-

port of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on

the protection of divine Providence, we mutu-

ally pledge to each other our Lives, our For-

tunes and our sacred Honor.

JOHN HANCOCK.

New Hampshire

JOSIAH BARTLETT, MATTHEW THORNTON.

WM. WHIPPLE,

Massachusetts Bay

SAML. ADAMS, ROBT. TREAT PAINE,

JOHN ADAMS, ELBRIDGE GERRY.

Rhode Island

STEP. HOPKINS, WILLIAM ELLERY.

VerDate Aug 31 2005 08:33 Feb 15, 2008 Jkt 040101 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5820 Sfmt 5807 Y:\TS\2006MAIN\2006V1.MN\V1PRE4.MN BOB

Page XLVII THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE—1776

Connecticut

ROGER SHERMAN, WM. WILLIAMS,

SAM’EL HUNTINGTON, OLIVER WOLCOTT.

New York

WM. FLOYD, FRANS. LEWIS,

PHIL. LIVINGSTON, LEWIS MORRIS.

New Jersey

RICHD. STOCKTON, JOHN HART,

JNO. WITHERSPOON, ABRA. CLARK.

FRAS. HOPKINSON,

Pennsylvania

ROBT. MORRIS, JAS. SMITH,

BENJAMIN RUSH, GEO. TAYLOR,

BENJA. FRANKLIN, JAMES WILSON,

JOHN MORTON, GEO. ROSS.

GEO. CLYMER,

Delaware

CAESAR RODNEY, THO. M’KEAN.

GEO. READ,

Maryland

SAMUEL CHASE, CHARLES CARROLL OF

WM. PACA, Carrollton.

THOS. STONE,

Virginia

GEORGE WYTHE, THOS. NELSON, jr.,

RICHARD HENRY LEE, FRANCIS LIGHTFOOT

TH. JEFFERSON, LEE,

BENJA. HARRISON, CARTER BRAXTON.

North Carolina

WM. HOOPER, JOHN PENN.

JOSEPH HEWES,

South Carolina

THOS. HEYWARD, THOMAS LYNCH, Junr.,

Junr., ARTHUR MIDDLETON.

EDWARD RUTLEDGE,

Georgia

BUTTON GWINNETT, GEO. WALTON.

LYMAN HALL,

NOTE.—Mr. Ferdinand Jefferson, Keeper of the Rolls in the De-

partment of State, at Washington, says: ‘‘The names of the sign-

ers are spelt above as in the fac-simile of the original, but the

punctuation of them is not always the same; neither do the

names of the States appear in the fac-simile of the original. The

names of the signers of each State are grouped together in the

fac-simile of the original, except the name of Matthew Thorn-

ton, which follows that of Oliver Wolcott.’’

VerDate Aug 31 2005 08:33 Feb 15, 2008 Jkt 040101 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5820 Sfmt 5800 Y:\TS\2006MAIN\2006V1.MN\V1PRE4.MN BOB