The document which stated that the colonists were ready to "die freemen rather than to live as slaves" is B. The Declaration of Causes and Necessities of Taking Up Arms. This document was set forth by Congress on July 6, 1775 against British authority in American colonies. This Declaration explained the reason that made the thirteen colonies take up arms in the American Revolutionary War. The colonists rejected policies such as taxation without representation and coercive acts, as well as the declaratory act.