<P> This has been called "one of the best - known sentences in the English language", containing "the most potent and consequential words in American history". The passage came to represent a moral standard to which the United States should strive . This view was notably promoted by Abraham Lincoln, who considered the Declaration to be the foundation of his political philosophy and argued that it is a statement of principles through which the United States Constitution should be interpreted . </P> <P> The U.S. Declaration of Independence inspired many other similar documents in other countries, the first being the 1789 Declaration of Flanders issued during the Brabant Revolution in the Austrian Netherlands (modern - day Belgium). It also served as the primary model for numerous declarations of independence across Europe and Latin America, as well as Africa (Liberia) and Oceania (New Zealand) during the first half of the 19th century . </P> <P> Believe me, dear Sir: there is not in the British empire a man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain than I do . But, by the God that made me, I will cease to exist before I yield to a connection on such terms as the British Parliament propose; and in this, I think I speak the sentiments of America . </P> <P> By the time that the Declaration of Independence was adopted in July 1776, the Thirteen Colonies and Great Britain had been at war for more than a year . Relations had been deteriorating between the colonies and the mother country since 1763 . Parliament enacted a series of measures to increase revenue from the colonies, such as the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767 . Parliament believed that these acts were a legitimate means of having the colonies pay their fair share of the costs to keep them in the British Empire . </P>

Role of the declaration of independence in american government