Poll Reaffirms Americans' Faith in the Declaration of Independence

With Independence Day 2012 here, most Americans still strongly agree with the central tenets of the document that declared the nation's independence from Great Britain 236 years ago.

The Declaration of Independence, ratified by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, asserts that governments derive their only just powers from the consent of the governed. A new Rasmussen Reports national survey finds that 70 percent of American adults agree with that statement, up from 66 percent last year and up from 56 percent in 2008. Just 13 percent now disagree with this assertion, but 17 percent are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)