The Declaration refers to the "causes which impel [the Americans] to the Separation." In the Preamble, it states that it had become necessary for the American people to "dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another [people]." Thus, the Americans were forced to separate themselves from England; that is, they were forced to revolt against the British government, because of its repeated violation of the equality principle, which demands that government secure the unalienable rights of the governed on the basis of the consent of the governed.