Please explain the beginning to the Declaration of Independence (included below) in simple English. When in the Course of human events it...

Let us take this in small chunks, exploring the meaning of each bit separately:

•         “When in the Course of human events”–this means something like “when, in human history.”  Or even just “when.”  You could completely leave out the words after “when” without really changing the meaning.


•         “it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another”—this means that one group of people, in this case, the American colonists, need to stop being part of another group of people, in this case, the British.


•         “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”—this means that they are going to become equal to all other countries of the world.  It also says that all countries of the world should be equal because of the laws of nature and because of God’s law.


•         “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”—this means that they have to have enough respect for public opinion in other countries to tell everyone in the world why they are going to separate themselves from the other country/group of people.


•         “We hold these Truths to be self-evident”—we believe that the following things are obviously true.


•         “that all Men are created equal” is already in simple English.


•         “that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights”—means that God has given them certain rights that cannot be taken away from them (or given away).


•         “that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”—this is a list of the rights that God has given them.


•         “That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men”—the purpose of government is to protect the rights that were just mentioned.


•         “deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed”—government only has the right to rule if the people it is ruling consent to being ruled.


•         “that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends”-whenever any government stops protecting these rights and instead destroys them. 


•         “it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government”—if that happens, the people have the right to change their government or even to totally overthrow it and create a new one.


•         “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….”—if the people change their government, they will change it to a kind of government that will, in their opinion, keep them safe and happy.

So, a “simple English” version of this might read:

Sometimes, in human history, one group of people wants to break away from another group and become independent.  When this happens, that group of people needs to respect public opinion enough to tell everyone why they are splitting from their original country.  (Here’s why we are splitting from Britain…)

We believe that it is obvious that all men (we would say “people” nowadays) are created equal and that God has given them some rights that no one can take from them.  Some of these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  The only purpose of government is to protect these rights.  Government also has no right to rule unless the people consent to be ruled.  If a government doesn’t follow these rules, the people have the right to change it or even to overthrow it and make a new government.  If the people do this, they should change it to a kind of government that will, in their opinion, keep them safe and happy.