Signed on 26 July 1581, in The Hague, the Act formally confirmed a decision made by the States General of the Netherlands in Antwerp four days earlier.

The Seventeen Provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands were united in a personal union by Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain Charles V with the incorporation of the duchy of Guelders in his Burgundian territories in 1544.

He hoped that Francis, Duke of Anjou, the younger brother and heir-presumptive of King Henry III of France, who did not wish to be someone else's viceroy, was such a man.

[5] Transferring the sovereignty of the Netherlands presented a significant problem: the magistrates of the cities and rural areas, and the provincial states themselves, had sworn allegiance to Philip.

[7] The Act was remarkable for its extensive preamble, which took the form of an ideological justification, phrased as an indictment (a detailed list of grievances) of King Philip.

This form, to which the American Declaration of Independence bears striking resemblance, has given rise to speculation that Thomas Jefferson, when he was writing the latter, was at least partly inspired by the Act of Abjuration.

[10] The rebels, in their appeal to public opinion, may have thought it more important to quote "authoritative" sources and refer to "ancient rights" they wished to defend.

[11] In order of appearance, these provinces are mentioned in the declaration: the Duchies of Brabant and Guelders, the Counties of Flanders, Holland and Zeeland, and the Lordships of Frisia, Mechelen and Utrecht.

[12] Many magistrates refused to take the new oath and preferred to resign from their offices, thus changing the political makeup of many rebellious cities in the Netherlands, strengthening the radicals.

[citation needed] At the same time, the States-General had their own claim for authority, as indeed did William as their representative in most provinces,[13] while Anjou was left as a sort of empty figure-head.

After Leicester's departure in 1587, and given what the British historian John Huxtable Elliott called “the slow decline of the monarchical idea, in the face of repeated failures”,[16] the States General decided to assume sovereignty themselves, thereby making the seven[note 5] United Provinces a republic.