The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. 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 bands 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. 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 of 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 shewn, 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. He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. 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. 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. 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. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. 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 mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. 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: For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring 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 into these Colonies: For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends. We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated: Column 1 Georgia:    Button Gwinnett    Lyman Hall    George Walton Column 2 North Carolina:    William Hooper    Joseph Hewes    John Penn South Carolina:    Edward Rutledge    Thomas Heyward, Jr.    Thomas Lynch, Jr.    Arthur Middleton Column 3 Massachusetts: John Hancock Maryland: Samuel Chase William Paca Thomas Stone Charles Carroll of Carrollton Virginia: George Wythe Richard Henry Lee Thomas Jefferson Benjamin Harrison Thomas Nelson, Jr. Francis Lightfoot Lee Carter Braxton Column 4 Pennsylvania:    Robert Morris    Benjamin Rush    Benjamin Franklin    John Morton    George Clymer    James Smith    George Taylor    James Wilson    George Ross Delaware:    Caesar Rodney    George Read    Thomas McKean Column 5 New York:    William Floyd    Philip Livingston    Francis Lewis    Lewis Morris New Jersey:    Richard Stockton    John Witherspoon    Francis Hopkinson    John Hart    Abraham Clark Column 6 New Hampshire:    Josiah Bartlett    William Whipple Massachusetts:    Samuel Adams    John Adams    Robert Treat Paine    Elbridge Gerry Rhode Island:    Stephen Hopkins    William Ellery Connecticut:    Roger Sherman    Samuel Huntington    William Williams    Oliver Wolcott New Hampshire:    Matthew Thornton Learn about Our National Treasure, interesting and informative facts about the Declaration and its history.

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ivan LUVs fireworks. :s Happy 4th USA! From the Grand Coulee Dam .. . as Cydonie says: LOUDLY ... THE LARGEST HYDRO ELECTRIC IRRIGATION DAM IN NORTH AMERICA!!!

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Surfing Hurricane Carlotta, and Helping Hard-Hit Mexican Towns by Serge Dedina On the morning of June 13, three of my WiLDCOAST colleagues and I set out in search of waves along the southern coast of Oaxaca. Our planned conservation activities for the day had been canceled due to the rainfall, wind forecast and presence of Hurricane Carlotta off the coast. Unfortunately the wind was sideshore and the surf was blown out. This wasn’t the case where the hurricane was creating great waves. However, we made the most of the 2- to 4-foot point waves. After all, the water was 82 degrees, and… Read More

Surfing Hurricane Carlotta, and Helping Hard-Hit Mexican Towns

by Serge Dedina

On the morning of June 13, three of my WiLDCOAST colleagues and I set out in search of waves along the southern coast of Oaxaca. Our planned conservation activities for the day had been canceled due to the rainfall, wind forecast and presence of Hurricane Carlotta off the coast. Unfortunately the wind was sideshore and the surf was blown out. This wasn’t the case where the hurricane was creating great waves. However, we made the most of the 2- to 4-foot point waves. After all, the water was 82 degrees, and…

Read More

Surfing Hurricane Carlotta, and Helping Hard-Hit Mexican Towns Local and San Diego surfers recall 12-foot waves: “And then it started getting really gnarly.”

Surfing Hurricane Carlotta, and Helping Hard-Hit Mexican Towns

Local and San Diego surfers recall 12-foot waves: “And then it started getting really gnarly.”

SOUTHWEST SURF

• By Serge Dedina

Anthony "Burrito" Zambrano charging Puerto before the storm hit.  Credit: A. Zambrano

Damage along the coast near Mazunte. Credit: Carlos Rodriguez.

Credit: Etel

Most of the month of June saw small surf in southern Mexico with the biggest waves created by Hurricane Carlotta. Burrito snagging a Puerto barrel prior to the storm.  Credit: A. Zambrano

On July 8th, a concert will be held in Mazunte to raise funds for the reconstruction efforts. Credit: Serge Dedina

Damage at the Mexican Sea Turtle Center in Mazune. Credit: Carlos Rodriguez

This was a sea turtle exhibit at the Mexican Sea Turtle Center. Credit: Carlos Rodriguez

Damage at the Mexican Sea Turtle Center. Credit: Carlos Rodriguez.

Pemex station along the highway. Credit: Carlos Rodriguez.

 Credit: Etel

Credit: Etel

Puerto Escondido was hit hard. Credit: A. Zambrano

On the morning of June 13, three of my WiLDCOAST colleagues and I set out in search of waves along the southern coast of Oaxaca.

Our planned conservation activities for the day had been canceled due to the rainfall, wind forecast and presence of Hurricane Carlotta off the coast.

Unfortunately the wind was sideshore and the surf was blown out. This wasn’t the case where the hurricane was creating great waves.

However, we made the most of the 2- to 4-foot point waves. After all, the water was 82 degrees, and every once in a while a fun wave would line up.

After a few hours, a couple of surfers from Cancun showed up. They were staying in adobe and thatch huts a couple of miles down the beach.

“You guys know about the storm coming?” I asked them.

“What storm?” they replied.

“There’s a hurricane coming,” I said. “You might want to seek higher ground.”

On the way back to Huatulco, we stopped in at Barra de la Cruz, famous for its world-class right point. My son Israel, 16, spent the week there with local surfer Pablo Narvaez and his family.

“Israel’s at the beach surfing,” said Pablo when we arrived at his two-story bamboo and wood house. “The surf is small anyway.”

A few minutes later, Pablo and I arrived at the beach facing the point and were shocked to see 6- to 8-foot-foot shorebreak on the inside with 10- to 12-foot waves hitting the point. The wind was howling.

“I surfed earlier,” said Israel, who spent the week living on grilled fish and stalks of bananas picked from the local huerta. “And then it started getting really gnarly.”

In 1997, Hurricane Paulina hit the area hard, Pablo said.

We hoped Carlotta wouldn’t be so bad.

When we returned to , I was happy to find my good friend Daren Johnson and his son Josh waiting for us at the friendly Hotel Mision de los Arcos. They had been staying at some rustic huts at a spot further south.

That afternoon, the National Hurricane Center upgraded Carlotta to a Category 2 hurricane. Winds were expected to reach up to 120 miles per hour.

Later that evening, Israel and I gathered at a café on the Huatulco plaza with Daren, Josh and myWiLDCOAST colleagues Eduardo Najera, Ben McCue and Zach Plopper along with a Swiss surfer-engineer we met earlier in the week while surfing.

The wind howled harder and the rain started pouring. An electrical post exploded across the street.

After a round of tlayudas, we hit up the local ice-cream shop for paletas and headed back to our hotel to wait out the storm.

“Since I have experienced a big hurricane in the past (Wilma, Category 5, biggest hurricane in Cancún history), I wasn’t that worried. However, I forgot about the mountains and rivers that were behind us,” Eduardo said.

The following morning, the rain stopped and the wind was back to normal speeds. We decided to check the surf. Cleanup crews were removing fallen trees from the roads. But overall in Huatulco, the damage seemed minimal.

“Despite hours of buildup and uncertainty, Carlotta whipped through overnight fortunately not wreaking too much havoc in the Huatulco-Salina Cruz region,” Zach said.

At the point from the day before, we were surprised to see that the tremendous storm surf had dissipated. However, the waves resulted in local beaches losing up to 6 feet of sand, which may make it difficult for sea turtles to nest in some areas.

Further north it was a different story.

“The hurricane was really intense. My buddies and I didn’t really know what to expect,” said Anthony “Burrito” Zambrano, of Imperial Beach who was in Puerto Escondido. 

“The rain started around 6 o’clock, then it started getting really windy. The windows were whistling, the lights went out and our room got flooded with water like 2 inches deep. We heard things getting blown around. The shingles from a bunch of houses and hotels got blown right off their roofs.”

Dr. Carlos Rodriguez, a veterinarian with the Mexican Sea Turtle Center in Mazunte, said: “Over 30,000 homes where affected from Puerto Escondido to Puerto Angel. Mazunte and the surrounding area was a mess.” 

“Roads were closed, so nobody could leave their towns. In places like Mazunte, the community has really pulled together. But ... other communities like La Escobilla, Vainilla, Barra del Potrero, Santa Elena and their surroundings aren’t as lucky. Families lost their roofs, food, clothes and didn’t have electricity for 10 days, so there was no way to communicate.”

On July 8, Mazunte will hold a concert to raise money for the reconstruction effort.

“It has been a tough two weeks, but the communities are very positive they can pull through this mess,” Rodriguez said. “But there is still a lot of work to be done.”

Diane Castenada of WiLDCOAST has organized a fundraising effort to support those in need. Gohere to donate.

Serge Dedina is executive director of WiLDCOAST, an international conservation team that conserves coastal and marine ecosystems and wildlife. He is the author of Wild Sea and Saving the Gray Whale.

About this column: Serge Dedina's take on the waves and the people who ride them from a world class surf town in the most southwestern corner of the continental United States.Related Topics: Huatulco, Hurricane Carlotta, Mazunte, Puerto Angel, Surfing, and puerto escondido

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