Barrington 250 Events

Declaration of Independence

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.

Signed representing Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery

Transcript of The Declaration of Independence and related links via The National Archives.

Cap off the Semiquincentennial weekend and this summer's culmination of Barrington 250 events with the dynamic horns, rhythm section, and vocalists of the ever-popular Brass Attack performing crowd-pleasing hits on Barrington's beautiful waterfront!

Celebrate with friends and neighbors of all ages on Sunday, July 5 from 6:30-8:30pm at Latham Park (Latham Avenue at Shore Drive) -- our Tanglewood-on-the-River! Bring a chair or blanket, a picnic to enjoy on the lawn, and your red-white-and-blue dancing shoes.

Presented in collaboration with Barrington Recreation Department and made possible by Barrington 250 Founding Freedom Sponsor Barrington Books -- thank you!!

It's Signature Celebrations week! Join  community members in the culmination of Barrington 250 festivities! Made possible by Barrington 250 Sponsors and Community Collaborators, celebrations include:

• Contra Dance (Thursday, July 2, 6-8pm) Line dancing with Colonial-era New England roots (250th-themed attire welcome!) [Barrington Public Library]

• Food & Music Festival Postponed due to extreme heat. Rescheduled for Sunday, September 27 from 10am-4pm in conjunction with the Barrington Arts Festival. Details forthcoming.

• Barrington 250 Finale Concert Featuring Brass Attack (Sunday, July 5, 6:30-8:30pm) Crowd-pleasing hits on Barrington’s beautiful waterfront! Bring a picnic to enjoy on the lawn. Presented in collaboration with Barrington Parks & Recreation. [Latham Park: Latham Avenue at Shore Drive]

• Barrington 250 Closing Ceremony and Time Capsule Dedication (date to be announced) Be sure to order your commemorative brick to be part of the historic installation! [Town Hall grounds]

Due to the heat advisory and for the health and safety of the public, musicians, vendors, volunteers and all involved, the Saturday, July 4th Food & Music Festival has been rescheduled to Sunday, September 27, 10am-4pm -- which will be in conjunction with the Barrington Arts Festival presented by the Town of Barrington Recreation Department. Details forthcoming.

In June, celebrate our community's commitment to the collective good & collaborative problem-solving, in alignment with Civic Season (Juneteenth-July 4th).

In July, Barrington 250’s grand finale ceremonies and signature events celebrate our vibrant community, our connections with our town’s history, and our hopes for our shared future.

Also ongoing: Contribute to the Barrington 250 Time Capsule! (See details in event listing below.)

June & July event updates:

• Food & Music Festival postponed due to extreme heat. See details above.

• Time of 1776 screening on Tuesday, June 30 corrected to 5:30-8pm!

• Wish Wall contributions extended through July! Visit the Wish Wall display at Barrington Public Library in the 1st floor gallery.

• Closing ceremony and time capsule dedication rescheduled (date & time to be confirmed). Due to community interest in the Barrington 250 commemorative bricks project and to extend opportunities to contribute to the time capsule, the installation has been pushed out to this fall. The time capsule dedication will take place in conjunction with the bricklaying.

Can't make it to an in-person event or just want to explore some Semiquincentennial topics and themes on your own? Check out Barrington 250's collection of resources -- from books and articles, to movies and music, to podcasts and digital public humanities content ... and more!

EXTENDED! 

Next drop-off date to be announced

As part of our town’s commemorations of America’s 250th, Barrington High School students are leading an effort to create a community time capsule that will be opened on our nation’s Tricentennial in 2076. All Barrington residents, organizations/community groups, and businesses are invited to contribute objects: review submission guidelines, view available object drop-off event dates, and complete the submission form here. Students at Barrington Public Schools will also be invited to choose collective grade-level contributions (details forthcoming via schools).

This fall (date and time to be announced), gather for the time capsule dedication ceremony on the Town

Help future town residents understand who we were, what we valued, and how we lived in 2026. What will Barrington be like 50 years from now? What will people in the future remember about 2026? What evidence will help people understand our experiences of our town and our nation today? What stories about life in this place we call home do we want to share with our future community? On the 300th anniversary of American independence, what do we want future members of our community to find preserved in the time capsule we bury at Town Hall this year?

Review guidelines and complete the submission form here!

Ideas percolating? Here are some resources about time capsules to explore, for kids (American Museum of Natural History) and adults (Library of Congress, JSTOR Daily, New York Times, Smithsonian). Did you know Samuel Adams and Paul Revere buried a time capsule under the cornerstone of the Massachusetts State House in 1795? View the MFA Boston's video & slideshow of what was inside.

Visit Barrington Public Library’s first-floor gallery (281 County Road) to view the Barrington 250 Wish Wall, part of a nationwide initiative capturing Americans’ hopes and dreams for the future. 

Coordinated by Made By Us, a national organization that aims to inspire youth civic participation, the initiative has generated hundreds of Wish Walls across the United States, from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and The New York Historical to smaller, local hosts including museums, libraries, parks, community hubs, and gatherings, along with a virtual wish wall online at OnOur250th.org – and more are planned.

Here in Barrington, stop by Barrington Public Library (281 County Road) Bayside Family YMCA (70 West Street), Town Hall (283 County Road), or the Peck Center (281 County Road) to write a personal wish — from small acts of kindness to big visions for change — for the next 50 years. All wishes contributed also will be added to our town’s Time Capsule, which will be opened on our nation’s Tricentennial in 2076.

The Wish Wall gives everyone a voice in imagining the future we want to build together. It’s a simple act of hope — Barrington 250’s April theme — and offers our community an opportunity to contribute to a collective snapshot of what we value most as a nation.

Do you LOVE Barrington?? Write a Love Note to your favorite place in town. When you share your Rhody love you will be contributing our community's stories of beloved spaces and places to Rhody Love Notes, Grow Smart, RI's statewide collective mapping project. Your note will be added to a town time capsule, and may be included in a Barrington 250 commemorative publication. Let's help add 250 stories (or more!) to the collection by July 4, 2026 for Rhody Love Notes’ special Semiquincentennial edition! #Rhody250LoveNotes

The American Revolution, the landmark documentary by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt, examines how thirteen American colonies unite in rebellion, win an eight-year war to secure their independence, and establish a new form of government that inspires centuries of democratic movements around the globe. The American Revolution is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App. 

Also check out: Ocean State Media’s Ian Donnis in conversation with Ken Burns during a recent visit to Providence, discussing the importance of history, the legacy of the American Revolution, and Rhode Island’s contribution to the country’s founding.