The Declaration of Arbroath, also known as the Scottish Declaration of Independence was drafted in 1320, the era of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. It announced the independence of Scotland from England. Signed by representatives of the people, this document listed crimes and grievances inflicted by the English against the Scottish people and defended their own right to institute a Scottish government.
Comparison Between Declaration of Abroath & American Founding Documents
“There is even strong circumstantial evidence that the American founding fathers who drafted the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution actually referred to two antecedent Scottish documents. . . . In fact, a careful comparison of the Arbroath Declaration and the National Covenant against the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the United States Constitution readily reveals how the Americans used the words and concepts of the older Scottish documents as models for their momentous works.” (The Mark of the Scotts, Duncan A. Bruce, pg. 38-39)
The United States Declaration of Independence
| Arbroath Declaration | Declaration of Independence |
| “nor distinction of Jew or Greek, Scots or English” | “all men are created equal” |
| “Since not for glory, riches or honours we fight but for liberty alone which no good man loses but with his life” | “Certain unalienable rights, among these are life, liberty” |
| “we will maintain even to the death” | “We mutually pledge . . . our lives” |
| “our . . . King . . . (protecting) . . . our laws and customs . . . the succession of right and the due consent and assent of us all” | “that to secure these Rights governments are instituted among Men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” |
| “But if he (the King of Scots) were to desist from what he has begun, wishing to subject us or our Kingdom . . . We would immediately endeavor to expel him as our enemy and the subverter of his own rights and ours, and make another our King” | “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the people to alter or abolish it and to institute a new government” |
| “The mighty King of the English . . . under the semblance of a friend and ally, in most unfriendly wise harassed our Kingdom, . . . Injuries slaughters deeds of violence” | “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries death Desolation” |
| “For, so long as a hundred remain alive, we never will in any degree be subject to the dominion of the English” | “That these United Colonies are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown” |
| “to Him, as the Supreme King and Judge we commit the defense of our cause,” | “appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions” |
| “casting our care on Him, and firmly trusting that he will give courage to us and bring our enemies to nought.” | “with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence” |
| “the most savage tribes” | “Merciless Indian savages” |
| “People however barbarous” | “In the most barbarous Ages” |
| “plunderings, burnings” | “He has plundered our seas . . . burnt our towns” |
| “sparing no age or sex” | “an undistinguished Destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions” |
| “. . . in most unfriendlywise harassed our Kingdom” | “He has . . . sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people” |
| “. . . this prince perpetrated . . . These evils innumerable” | “A prince whose character is marked by every act which may define a tyrant” |
United States Declaration of Independence, Declaration of Abroath and Book of Mormon
| Book of Mormon | Arbroath Declaration | Declaration of Independence |
| “. . . all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.” (2 Nephi 26:33) | “nor distinction of Jew or Greek, Scots or English” | “all men are created equal” |
| “And they entered into a covenant to fight for the liberty of the Nephites, . . . they covenanted that they never would give up their liberty . . .” (Alma 53:17) | “Since not for glory, riches or honours we fight but for liberty alone which no good man loses but with his life” | “Certain unalienable rights, among these are life, liberty” |
| “. . . protect the land unto the laying down of their lives . . .” (Alma 53:17)“. . . they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives;” (Alma 56:47) | “we will maintain even to the death” | “We mutually pledge . . . our lives” |
| “. . . judges . . . judged according to the laws . . . this shall ye observe and make it your law—to do your business by the voice of the people.” (Mosiah 29:25-26) | “our . . . King . . . (protecting) . . . our laws and customs . . . the succession of right and the due consent and assent of us all” | “that to secure these Rights governments are instituted among Men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” |
| “. . . we will newly arrange the affairs of this people . . . ” (Mosiah 29:11) “It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief.” (1 Nephi 4:13) | “But if he (the King of Scots) were to desist from what he has begun, wishing to subject us or our Kingdom . . . We would immediately endeavor to expel him as our enemy and the subverter of his own rights and ours, and make another our King” | “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the people to alter or abolish it and to institute a new government” |
| “. . . he causeth to be destroyed; and whosoever doth rebel against him he will send his armies against them to war, and if he can he will destroy them;” (Mosiah 29:23) | “The mighty King of the English . . . under the semblance of a friend and ally, in most unfriendly wise harassed our Kingdom, . . . injuries slaughters deeds of violence” | “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries death Desolation” |
| “my beloved brother, Moroni, let us resist evil, . . . let us resist them with our swords, that we may retain our freedom,” (Alma 61:14) | “For, so long as a hundred remain alive, we never will in any degree be subject to the dominion of the English” | “That these United Colonies are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown” |
| “that we may rejoice . . . in the cause of our Redeemer and our God. “ (Alma 61:14) “we will go . . . in the strength of our God according to the faith which is in us.” (Alma 61:17) | “to Him, as the Supreme King and Judge we commit the defense of our cause,” | “appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions” |
| “Surely God shall not suffer that we, who are despised because we take upon us the name of Christ, shall be trodden down and destroyed,” (Alma 46:18) | “casting our care on Him, and firmly trusting that he will give courage to us and bring our enemies to nought.” | “with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence” |
Origin of Scottish People
The Declaration of Arbroath sheds light on the historical records of the origin of the Scottish people. Interestingly, it offers strong evidence for an Israelite heritage.
We know, most Holy Father and Lord, and from the chronicles and hooks of the ancients gather, that among other illustrious nations, ours, to tvit the nation of the Scots, has been distinguished by many honours ; which, passing from the greater Scythia through the Mediterranean Sea and the Pillars of Hercules, and sojourning in Spain, among the most savage tribes, through a long course of time, could no where be subjugated by any people however barbarous;
and coming thence, one thousand two hundred years after the outgoing of the people of Israel, they by many victories and infinite toil acquired for themselves the possessions in the west which they now hold, after expelling the Britons, and completely destroying the Picts, and although very often assailed by the Norwegians, the Danes, and the English, always kept them free from all servitude, as the histories of the ancients testify.
In their kingdom one hundred and thirteen kings of their own royal stock, no stranger intervening, have reigned, whose nobility and merits, if they were not clear otherwise, yet shine out plainly enough from this, that the King of Kings, even our Lord Jesus Christ, after his passion and resurrection, called them, though situated at the uttermost parts of the earth, almost the first to his most holy faith, nor would he have them confirmed in this faith by any one less than His first Apostle, although in rank second or third, to wit, Andrew the most meek, the brother of Saint Peter, whom he would have always preside over them, as their Patron.
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