The Declaration of Independence: Thirteen Colonies Yearning to Be Free | Eastern North Carolina Now

    The phrase "the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and Nature's God entitle them" is a particularly significant one. It means that our rights are not a gift from the State, but arise from our nature. This marks a paradigm shift from the system in England. English law was still dictated by the Divine Right of Kings. Even though charters, petitions, and a Bill of Rights put limitations on the Crown and to some extent, on government in general, they still acknowledged that the King and the State had power over the individual. Without such charters, petitions, and Bill of Rights, the King and government could treat the individual as it wanted, generously or oppressively. Thomas Jefferson was making it clear that in the United States, rights are NOT a gift from the State, to be enjoyed at its benevolence, but rather that they arise from Nature and from God, separately and equally. God and Nature go hand in hand. God who created the heavens and the Earth also created the laws of nature. For those who believe God to be the great author of Nature, then rights come from Him, as our Creator. For those who lack faith, they can rest assure that our Declaration equally recognizes that all individuals possess fundamental rights because they are natural rights - part of our very humanity from birth. Even if you do not believe in a God Almighty, still you must respect the laws of nature. In this way, Jefferson was laying out the concept of Individual Sovereignty in a way that its people could universally understand and agree, irrespective of the particulars of their individual and very diverse faiths. Individual Sovereignty is the basis of our Rights in this country.

    We may argue yet what are Nature's Laws, but this much we can be certain: All people must observe and ultimately obey it, just as the laws of nature apply equally to all human beings. Since governments are merely fictional entities created by mankind and not by nature, rights supersede government. Saying that government is more important than the individual would be "unnatural."

    In the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence reads:

    We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.-That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

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    In this paragraph, Jefferson's mighty pen goes into greater detail about the nature of the aforementioned natural rights. He tells us that our rights, which are endowed by our Creator (or Nature), are unalienable and although are numerous, the most obvious ones are "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." "Unalienable" (which is the same as "inalienable") means that the individual can never been divested of these rights. They cannot be taken away or denied. They remain with the individual and government cannot take them away. "Life," of course, is clear enough. "Liberty," according to Jefferson, was the degree to which an individual can exercise his rights, his freedom. The rights which come under this umbrella would include the rights asserted in the Magna Carta, for example, or in the English Bill of Rights, or in Virginia's Declaration of Rights. (Remember the time period that the Declaration was written). "Pursuit of Happiness" includes property, but encompasses much more. "Pursuit of Happiness" means an individual should be able to freely exercise all his rights in order to live his life to its full potential. That "full potential" includes the ownership of property and the fruits of one's labor, mind, and personality (all that which makes a person a unique "individual"). "Property" was too narrow a term for Jefferson. Now, just as the individual has the rights to Life, Liberty, and Property, he also has the equal right to protect them. This right of self-protection and self-preservation is also a natural right. Samuel Adams summed it best: "Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: First a right to life, secondly to liberty, and thirdly to property; together with the right to defend them in the best manner they can."

    "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" is another important principle. It is a critical and basic tenet of our form of government. First it states unequivocally that the primary role of government is "to secure these rights." In other words, in the grand scheme of things, individual rights are supreme over the authority of the State (ie, government). The primary role of government, and the motivating force behind the formation of government, is to secure the inalienable rights, endowed by our Creator (Nature), of each individual. This means that government is to be ideally limited to the role of a policeman, a judge, a prison warden, and a military force. Furthermore, this provision explains that government has no powers of its own, but only "derives" its powers from individuals consenting to transfer power to it. This is where the doctrine of Individual Sovereignty comes from. In a state of Nature, man has full sovereign power to govern himself - to provide for himself, to protect himself, to think and act as he wants. He is responsible for himself and his conduct. What is especially critical about this principle of "deriving powers from the consent of the governed" is that power delegated by the people is always "temporary" in nature. The people can always re-assume their sovereign power - their right to govern themselves.

    Having told us the proper function of government, Jefferson then tells us what gives cause to changing it: "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

    The first thing to note is that governments are always "temporary." Government exists at the whim of the people and have no right in and of itself to its own existence or longevity. Government is a "creation." It is not a natural institution. Because is arises by the "consent of the governed," it is a product of compact. Compacts have elements of contract law and agency law. The second thing to note is the Declaration acknowledges that individuals have the RIGHT to establish their government to effect THEIR happiness and their safety. When government ceases to serve those purposes, then individuals are well within their natural right to abolish that government and establish another.

    The Declaration goes one step further and challenges individuals to be vigilante of their rights and critical of their government. "Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

    How will a people know for sure when it is time to "abolish" their government? Or how will they know when it is time to dissolve political bonds that tie them to another; that is, how will they know when it is time to secede from another political body? The Declaration, in that last sentence, tells us: "When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

    And that line, as Jefferson will explain in the section that follows, sums up the position of the Colonies. In that section, Jefferson sets out to make the case that the conduct of the King is a history of abuses and usurpations. Historical precedents such as the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights 1689 had established the principle that the King was not to interfere with the rights of Englishmen, as held by the people. The list of grievances essentially all stem from a refusal by the King and by Parliament to recognize these rights in the colonists and instead, to abuse their power by interfering, burdening, and evening denying those rights. Jefferson lists 27 grievances against King George III - 27 instances where he violated the rights of the colonists - which he, Jefferson, (and the Second Continental Congress, as evidenced by its adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776) believe evidences a design to reduce them under an absolute Despotism (tyranny).

    What are some of these grievances?

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    The first, for example, reads: "He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good." With this grievance, Jefferson points to the fact that the King repeatedly refused to ratify Colonial legislation, thus tacitly refusing to ignore their right of colonial self-government.

    Grievance ten reads: "He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance." One can look at the Stamp Act to see what Jefferson means by this item. After the passage of the Stamp Act, stamp distributors were appointed in every considerable town. In 1766 and 1767, acts for the collection of duties created "swarms of officers," all of whom received high salaries; and when in 1768, admiralty and vice admiralty courts were established on a new basis, an increase in the number of officers was made. The high salaries and extensive perquisites of all of these, were paid with the people's money, and thus "swarms of officers" "eat out their substance."

    Grievance eleven reads: "He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures." This item refers to two notable situations - namely, the British troops kept in America following the war with France (Seven Years War) and then following the Boston Tea Party, the King established martial law in Massachusetts under General Gage. A subsequent grievance refers to the quartering of British troops in and among the colonies. One of the Intolerable Acts of 1774 was the Quartering Act, a particularly offensive law to the colonists.

    After the treaty of peace with France, in 1763, Great Britain left quite a large number of troops in America, and required the colonists to contribute to their support. There was no use for this standing army, except to repress the growing spirit of Republicanism among the colonists, and to enforce compliance with taxation laws. The presence of troops was always a cause of complaint; and when, finally, the colonists boldly opposed the unjust measures of the British government, armies were sent hither to awe the people into submission. It was one of those "standing armies" kept here "without the consent of the Legislature," against which the patriots at Lexington, and Concord, and Bunker Hill so manfully battled in 1775.

    Of course, Jefferson included a grievance addressing an early, but repeated, grievance - that of "taxation without representation," The grievance reads: "For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:"

    One should read all the grievances. Some we are familiar with from our study of American History in grade school but others would absolutely shock us with their severity.

    In the last paragraph of the Declaration, Jefferson will finally make the case that because of this evil design, the Colonies have a right and a duty to dissolve their political bonds with the King.

    The last paragraph reads:

    We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

    The Declaration of Independence ends with these powerful words: "For the support of this Declaration, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor." We can never forget that the Declaration was a treasonous document, which, if the British had won the war, would have sealed the fate of each of its signers and earned them a date with a hangman's noose. But they believed in their cause. They believed in the words they wrote in that document and they believed in their case against the King. And they were willing to risk it all.

    Signer Benjamin Rush (of Pennsylvania) wrote: "Do you recollect the pensive and awful silence which pervaded the house when we were called up, one after another, to the table of the President of Congress to subscribe what was believed by many at that time to be our own death warrants?"

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    After signing his name in a large flowing style, it is rumored that John Hancock's full response was this: "There! His Majesty can now read my name without his spectacles. And he can double the reward on my head!" Benjamin Franklin, insisting that every single delegate sign the Declaration of Independence, said: "We must all hang together or surely we shall all hang separately." The large, burly Virginian, Benjamin Harrison, turned to the pipsqueak from Massachusetts, Elbridge Gerry, and joked: "I will have a great advantage over you, Mr. Gerry, when we are all hung for what we are now doing. From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes, but from the lightness of your body, you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead."
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