Happy Fourth of July everyone. For those of us living or born in the U.S. this is an important day for it marks the birth of our nation. 236 years ago today, The Declaration of Independence was signed. The signers of this document knew they were committing treason against the British Crown and knew they faced almost certain loss of property and death should they be captured but this did not deter them because of their deep belief in a God given inalienable right to live, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is important for us to place the writing of any document in context. The Revolutionary War had been going on for a year. Hopes for a peaceful resolution of the grievances colonists had with the British Crown have disappeared. This led to the formation of a committee of five including Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams to draft a document listing the grievances colonists had and their reasons for desiring separation from the crown. The Declaration of Independence is the result of this committee’s work (1) .
The main theme of the document is the signer’s declaration of their belief in the inalienable right of every individual to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The belief of the signers that these rights are inalienable means they believed these rights came from our creator and are not something government granted to us. They believed that the role of government was to protect citizens from any one, or anything that would deprive citizens of these rights.
They believed in the right to life because it is foundational to any civilized society. Society devolves into anarchy when individuals can simply murder anyone who disagrees with them. This is why every community in the U.S. has laws against murder.
They believed in the right to liberty, but it was not the right for an individual to do whatever they wanted for given this liberty, individuals might engage in activities that deprive someone of their rights (i.e. murdering them, stealing their property, etc.). The liberty the signers meant was liberty from an oppressive tyrannical government, such as the British Crown, which was depriving citizens of their inalienable rights.
The signers also believed in the citizen’s right to the pursuit of happiness. However, what the signers meant by the pursuit of happiness is quite different from our modern interpretation of pursuing happiness. Our modern society view pursuing happiness as the right to engage in any activity that makes one happy. They were not condoning activities that might deprive someone of their right to liberty or even their life. What they were calling for is the right of individuals to own private property. The signers believed that every individual had the right to enjoy the fruits of his or her labors.
This is why the colonists had such a complaint with the crown over its taxation without representation. They viewed this practice as the Crown depriving them of the fruits of their labors while denying them of the right to petition the crown through representation in Parliament.
The document also lists the various grievances colonists had. I encourage everyone to take a few minutes on this the Fourth of July to read the document. I then encourage everyone to compare the list of grievances it contains with the grievances many of us have today with our current government. When you do, I believe you will see that we have many of the same grievances the colonists had with the Crown. Here is an online link to both the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and the U.S. Constitution to make it easier for you. http://USConstitution.net/
I do not believe we have reached the point for another revolutionary war, nor am I condoning it because we have elections every two years in which we can make changes in our government and protect our inalienable rights. Instead, use the similarities in our grievances to motivate you to get out and vote in November and tell your friends who share your grievances to also get out and vote.
We need a government large enough to protect our inalienable rights but not so large that it becomes tyrannical and begins depriving citizens of their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the context of what the signers of the Declaration of Independence envisioned. Let us join them in November by voting to preserve our inalienable rights.
Happy Fourth of July, and may God Bless the USA.
1. Hillsdale College. The Declaration of Independance. The U.S. Constitution: A reader. Hillsdale Michigan : Hillsdale College Press, 2012.
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