獨(dú)立宣言 (一七七六年)

 

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 bonds 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. 

美利堅(jiān)合眾國十三個(gè)州一致通過的獨(dú)立宣言。在有關(guān)人類事務(wù)的發(fā)展過程中，當(dāng)一個(gè)民族必須解除其和另一個(gè)民族之間的政治聯(lián)系，并在世界各國之間依照自然法則和上帝的意旨，接受獨(dú)立和平等的地位時(shí)，出于人類輿論的尊重，必須把他們不得不獨(dú)立的原因予以宣布。

 

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 to 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 shown 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. 

我們認(rèn)為下面這些真理是不言而喻的：人人生而平等，造物者賦予他們?nèi)舾刹豢蓜儕Z的權(quán)利，其中包括生命權(quán)、自由權(quán)和追求幸福的權(quán)利。為了保障這些權(quán)利，人類才在他們之間建立政府，而政府之正當(dāng)權(quán)力，是經(jīng)被治理者的同意而產(chǎn)生的。當(dāng)任何形式的政府對(duì)這些目標(biāo)具破壞作用時(shí)，人民便有權(quán)力改變或廢除它，以建立一個(gè)新的政府；其賴以奠基的原則，其組織權(quán)力的方式，務(wù)使人民認(rèn)為唯有這樣才最可能獲得他們的安全和幸福。為了慎重起見，成立多年的政府，是不應(yīng)當(dāng)由于輕微和短暫的原因而予以變更的。過去的一切經(jīng)驗(yàn)也都說明，任何苦難，只要是尚能忍受，人類都寧愿容忍，而無意為了本身的權(quán)益便廢除他們久已習(xí)慣了的政府。但是，當(dāng)追逐同一目標(biāo)的一連串濫用職權(quán)和強(qiáng)取豪奪發(fā)生，證明政府企圖把人民置于專制統(tǒng)治之下時(shí)，那么人民就有權(quán)利，也有義務(wù)推翻這個(gè)政府，并為他們未來的安全建立新的保障－－這就是這些殖民地過去逆來順受的情況，也是它們現(xiàn)在不得不改變以前政府制度的原因。當(dāng)今大不列顛國王的歷史，是接連不斷的傷天害理和強(qiáng)取豪奪的歷史，這些暴行的唯一目標(biāo)，就是想在這些州建立專制的暴政。為了證明所言屬實(shí)，現(xiàn)把下列事實(shí)向公正的世界宣布－－

 

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. 

他拒絕批準(zhǔn)對(duì)公眾利益最有益、最必要的法律。

 

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. 

他禁止他的總督們批準(zhǔn)迫切而極為必要的法律，要不就把這些法律擱置起來暫不生效，等待他的同意；而一旦這些法律被擱置起來，他對(duì)它們就完全置之不理。

 

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. 

他拒絕批準(zhǔn)便利廣大地區(qū)人民的其它法律，除非那些人民情愿放棄自己在立法機(jī)關(guān)中的代表權(quán)；但這種權(quán)利對(duì)他們有無法估量的價(jià)值，而且只有暴君才畏懼這種權(quán)利。

 

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. 

他把各州立法團(tuán)體召集到異乎尋常的、極為不便的、遠(yuǎn)離它們檔案庫的地方去開會(huì)，唯一的目的是使他們疲于奔命，不得不順從他的意旨。

 

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

他一再解散各州的議會(huì)，因?yàn)樗鼈円詿o畏的堅(jiān)毅態(tài)度反對(duì)他侵犯人民的權(quán)利。

 

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 meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. 

他在解散各州議會(huì)之后，又長期拒絕另選新議會(huì)；但立法權(quán)是無法取消的，因此這項(xiàng)項(xiàng)權(quán)力仍由一般人民來行使。其實(shí)各州仍然處于危險(xiǎn)的境地，既有外來侵略之患，又有發(fā)生內(nèi)亂之憂。

 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. 

他竭力抑制我們各州增加人口；為此目的，他阻撓外國人入籍法的通過，拒絕批準(zhǔn)其它鼓勵(lì)外國人移居各州的法律，并提高分配新土地的條件。

 

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

他拒絕批準(zhǔn)建立司法權(quán)力的法律，藉以阻撓司法工作的推行。

 

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

他把法官的任期、薪金數(shù)額和支付，完全置于他個(gè)人意志的支配之下。

 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance. 

他建立新官署，派遣大批官員，騷擾我們?nèi)嗣?，并耗盡人民必要的生活物質(zhì)。

 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature. 

他在和平時(shí)期，未經(jīng)我們的立法機(jī)關(guān)同意，就在我們中間維持常備軍。

 

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power. 

他力圖使軍隊(duì)獨(dú)立于民政之外，并凌駕于民政之上。

 

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: 

他同某些人勾結(jié)起來把我們置于一種不適合我們的體制且不為我們的法律所承認(rèn)的管轄之下；他還批準(zhǔn)那些人炮制的各種偽法案來達(dá)到以下目的：

 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: 

在我們中間駐扎大批武裝部隊(duì)；

 

For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states: 

用假審訊來包庇他們，使他們殺害我們各州居民而仍然逍遙法外；

 

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

切斷我們同世界各地的貿(mào)易；

 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent: 

未經(jīng)我們同意便向我們強(qiáng)行征稅；

 

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury: 

在許多案件中剝奪我們享有陪審制的權(quán)益；

 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses: 

羅織罪名押送我們到海外去受審；

 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring 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 in these colonies: 

在一個(gè)鄰省廢除英國的自由法制，在那里建立專制政府，并擴(kuò)大該省的疆界，企圖把該省變成既是一個(gè)樣版又是一個(gè)得心應(yīng)手的工具，以便進(jìn)而向這里的各殖民地推行同樣的極權(quán)統(tǒng)治；

 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments: 

取消我們的憲章，廢除我們最寶貴的法律，并且根本上改變我們各州政府的形式；

 

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

中止我們自己的立法機(jī)關(guān)行使權(quán)力，宣稱他們自己有權(quán)就一切事宜為我們制定法律。

 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us. 

他宣布我們已不屬他保護(hù)之列，并對(duì)我們作戰(zhàn)，從而放棄了在這里的政務(wù)。

 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

他在我們的海域大肆掠奪，蹂躪我們沿海地區(qū)，焚燒我們的城鎮(zhèn)，殘害我們?nèi)嗣竦纳?/div>