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Declaration of Independence

Declaration of Independence

53 3.0
A formal statement made on July 4, 1776 declaring the thirteen American colonies independent from Great Britain
  • noun
  • /ˌdɛkləˈreɪʃən əv ɪnˈdɪpəˌdɛns/
  • Formal
translation icon : Declaración de Independencia
  • On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence to proclaim the colonies' freedom from British rule.
  • the principles of the Declaration of Independence
  • the Declaration of Independence states
  • the author of the Declaration of Independence

But OK, let's start with the Declaration of Independence.

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Examples

  • Students should be able to see several of Locke's and Rousseau's ideas in the Declaration of Independence.

    Academic text (1996)
  • "The Declaration of Independence tells us that we are created equal."

  • And he used the Declaration of Independence as an example.

  • We want a country which shall not brand the Declaration of Independence a lie.

  • In which century was the Declaration of Independence signed?

  • It's where they keep the Declaration of Independence.

  • Our answer is the Declaration of Independence.

  • And we were talking about the Declaration of Independence.

  • Those men are getting ready... to sign the Declaration of Independence, and declare our country... free from England.

  • American political principles, as articulated in the Declaration of Independence, are essentially drawn from the thought of John Locke.

    Academic text (2000)

Synonyms

United States Declaration of Independence
vsDeclaration of Independence
  • Formal
5.1

A formal document agreed on 4 July 1776 that declares the thirteen American colonies independent from Britain

is the same document but uses the shorter common title without the country's name

Surface Forms

Morphology

declaration + of + independence

The phrase is a straightforward composition of 'declaration' (a formal statement) + 'of' (linking) + 'independence' (state of freedom), so a B1 learner who knows these words can infer it denotes a formal statement proclaiming independence. This noun phrase follows a common, cross-linguistic syntactic pattern, making its meaning transparently derivable from its constituents.

Etymology

Declaration of Independence is the famous written paper that leaders signed on July 4, 1776, to say the American colonies were free from Britain. The word Declaration shows it was a public 'announcement' and Independence means 'freedom', so the name now means that official statement announcing 'independence'.