A Re-Declaration of Independence - First Installment | Eastern North Carolina Now

    The implementation of these two ideas created something unseen before on the face of the earth. For the first time men were free from other men. They were no longer subservient to a lord, master or king. They could live their lives and pursue their goals independently yet associate with each other voluntarily instead of by force. With individual rights as a guiding principle, all other freedoms fell into place: economic freedom, religious freedom, social freedom, freedom of association, contractual freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom to bear arms and so on. And look what happened. The United States of America became the happiest, wealthiest, most prosperous, most advanced nation on earth. It was also the most moral country because it recognized individual rights.

    The Declaration of Independence is indeed the magnificent charter that defines our nation. We read it's second paragraph and we instantly become overcome with an intense sense of pride and gratitude. Or at least we should be. We can feel the sense of entitlement of fundamental liberty and the longing for independence in the words that Thomas Jefferson wrote. The Declaration is breathtaking in its scope and eloquent in its dialogue. It's message is clear: Government is established by individuals to protect their inalienable rights and since the powers of government are derived from the people for that precise purpose, when the government fails to do so or frustrates the people in their exercise of their liberties, then they have the right - and the duty - to throw off that government and plan for another. As someone once said: "People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people."

    Jefferson wrote that individuals have the rightful expectation that their government will create a climate of protection and happiness for them. This is what each of us as Americans should expect.... not an expectation of money, an "Obama phone," and other worldly things, but of protection (of our rights and of safety and security from harm from others)

    Referring to the rights that all men are born with and entitled to, Jefferson wrote:

    "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 affect their Safety and Happiness."

    People are meant to be free because of the laws of nature. They derive their rights from nature and not from any government. As Jefferson wrote: "The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them."

    Jefferson emphasized that it was not only the right of the people to abolish an abusive government but a duty. Individuals have a duty to remind government who is the boss, and in doing so, to preserve our republic and its values and essential principles. Because the Declaration defines the expectations of government in our country and the Constitution provides the safeguards, government itself must be mindful and respectful of the right of the people to abolish it. Additionally, we have a Bill of Rights, which our most passionate of founders fought mightily to have included in the Constitution. "The very purpose of a Bill of Rights," as explained by Robert H. Jackson, "was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy. One's right to life, liberty and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly may not be submitted to vote; they depend on no elections."

HbAD0

    Perhaps this was Jefferson's way of reminding Americans that sometimes governments must be abolished in order to preserve human rights. The British had to do it several times since the Magna Carta was signed. They never lost sight of protections they needed with respect to government. "Honor, justice, and humanity forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them if we basely entail hereditary bondage on them."

    He then went on in the Declaration to acknowledge the weakness in human nature which causes people to suffer the evils and abominations of government instead of standing resolute and abolishing that government. "All experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed."

    The statement of inalienable rights was a necessary precursor to what would follow, and that was a statement of the reasons why it had become necessary for the "good people" of the American colonies to dissolve their bonds of allegiance to England. With respect to fundamental individual rights and an expectation of a 'respectful' government, Jefferson outlined a "history of repeated injuries and usurpations" committed by King George III in order to claim that he was ruling over the colonies as a tyrant.

    The list included 27 instances of how King George imposed the will of government on the American colonies and colonists (themselves considered as British subjects) without any of the traditional safeguards that shielded the subjects of England, such as representation in Parliament and the protections of the English Bill of Rights. For example, he interfered with the laws of the colonies, suspended their legislatures, and obstructed their administration of justice. He appointed judges that were sworn to his will alone, incited domestic insurrection among them, destroyed their property, kept troops among them, and forced colonists to house and feed them. He taxed them without their representation in Parliament, subjected them to jurisdiction that was foreign to their constitution, cut off their trade with all parts of the world, deprived them of the right to a trial by jury, and transported them to England on trumped-up charges and for pretend offenses.

    According to our Founders, these were the acts of a tyrant. At the end of the second paragraph in the Declaration, it reads: "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." According to Jefferson, "a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people." He then used the Declaration to accomplish exactly the remedy he wrote just a few paragraphs earlier - to sever their bonds with the government of England and declare the colonies as independent sovereign states. "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."

    While the Declaration is a "declaration" of rights, it is first and foremost, an article of secession.

HbAD1

    I bring this up because there was a time when Americans understood the Declaration of Independence and appreciated its significance. There was a time when our leaders and our judiciary were able to connect the Declaration and Constitution together to be able to understand the role of government and protecting the sanctity of those documents. The first is the "WHY" the documents matter so much and the latter is the "HOW" to make them relevant again. Governments are instituted for the sole purpose of securing God-given, "unalienable" rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and they derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed" and nowhere else. The Constitution is meant to be read with the principles and truths in the Declaration in mind.

    Diane's "Magnus Opus" will continue by breaking this fine work into ongoing excerpts, which can be found in excerpt form here in volumes. Stay tuned and know that more of Diane Rufino's "A Re-Declaration of Independence" is on the way to a BCN near you.

poll#132
Considering that Joe Biden is considered by so many to be the Imposter President: Is he actually knowledgeable enough, wise enough, patriotic enough to be this Constitutional Republic's president at this difficult point in these tumultuous times?
  Yes, Mr. Biden is thoughtful and kind, and just so different from the "Orange Man".
  No, this representation of "president" is either too corrupt, too stupid, or both to be a real president.
  I just want the fun guy, who knew how to make stuff work back.
670 total vote(s)     What's your Opinion?

Go Back



Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Republicans Take Decisive Action To Reopen Schools Local News & Expression, Editorials, Our Founding Principles, For Love of God and Country, Op-Ed & Politics Greenville Bar Fights Cooper in Court Over Right To Reopen

HbAD2

 
Back to Top