Independence was declared. Here was an act which, from beginning to end, in every particular and all its inspirations, was National, stamping upon the whole people Unity in the support of Human Rights. It was done “in the name and by authority of the good people of these Colonies,” called at the beginning “one people,” and it was entitled “Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,” without a word of separate sovereignty. As a National act it has two distinct features: first, a severance of the relations between the “United Colonies” and the mother country; and, secondly, a declaration of self-evident truths on which the severance was justified and the new Nation founded. It is the “United Colonies” that are declared free and independent States; and this act is justified by the sublime declaration that all men are created equal, with certain inalienable rights, and that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Here was that “American Commonwealth,” the image of National Unity, dedicated to Human Rights, which had enchanted the vision of the early patriot seeking new safeguards for Liberty. Here was a new Nation, with new promises and covenants, never before made. The constituent authority was “the People.” The rights it promised and covenanted were the Equal Rights of All; not the rights of Englishmen, but the rights of Man. On this account our Declaration has its great meaning in history; on this account our nation became at once a source of light to the world. Well might the sun have stood still on that day to witness a kindred luminary ascending into the sky!