insight into the declaration of independence

Copyright by Beth Piepenburg, 2016. All rights reserved.

INSIGHT INTO THEDECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

By Beth Piepenburg


HISTORICALIn response to the passage of the Coercive Acts, aka the Intolerable Acts, by the British Parliament who wanted to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, the First Continental Congress convened from September 5 to October 26, 1774. A year later, the Second Continental Congress met from May 10, 1775 to March 1, 1781. Prompted by the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Congress declared war on the British. As the war effort escalated in the following year, the need was seen to declare our Independence from Great Britain.


HISTORICALCongress chose a Committee of Five to draft the Declaration of Independence: John Adams of Massachusetts, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, and Robert Livingston of New York. After discussing the general outline, the committee selected Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence. Submitting the draft to the Committee of Five who made some extensive changes, Jefferson produced a second draft incorporating these modifications. Then this draft was sent to the “Committee of the Whole” Congress, who rejected two passages. At the time of adjournment on the third of July, the work of editing was completed, and the Declaration of Independence was adopted and voted upon July 4, 1776, and then signed. A copy was sent to the printer with the typed signature of John Hancock, President of the Second Continental Congress, and released the next day for the people to see.


INTRODUCTIONWhen in the Course of human events, it becomes

necessary for one people to dissolve the political

bands which have connected them with another, and to

assume among the powers of the earth, the separate

and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of

Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the

opinions of mankind requires that they should declare

the causes which impel them to the separation.


INTRODUCTIONLaws of Nature and of Nature’s God

Why was the term “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” used? By calling upon the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God”, the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence established a unified standard of liberty, which stated that God’s law was supreme and He was the endower of liberty. This term referred to the laws that God as the Creator of the universe had established for the governance of people, nations, and nature. These laws of Creation can be defined by observing God’s creation, by divine revelation of His Word expressly stated in the Great Commandments, and by human instinct or reason.


PREAMBLEWe 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.


PREAMBLESelf-EvidentDid Thomas Jefferson originally write that the following truths were self-evident? Actually, he did not! He drafted the Declaration to express that “We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable”, because they asserted a religious principle. Upon submitting the Declaration of Independence to Benjamin Franklin for editing, Jefferson found that his colleague had crossed out “sacred and undeniable”, and had substituted the phrase with the word “self-evident”. Thus, this modification made the principle an assertion of rationality. Although the phrase is one of religious principle, even a person not of a religious persuasion should be able to reason out these sacred and undeniable principles.


PREAMBLEAll Men Are Created EqualAre all men created equal? In the respect of nature, estate in life, gender, etc. the answer would be no. Was Thomas Jefferson being ludicrous when inequality abounded around him in the form of slavery, or of women not having the right to vote? If those things were the focus of what Jefferson meant, then he would have been absurd to state such a ridiculous notion. Of course, we are indoctrinated to think along with the French slogan of liberty, equality, and fraternity. Thus, we are blinded to Jefferson’s intent, and we fail to understand because we are looking at the inequalities of his day. So, what did he mean that all men are created equal? Jefferson meant that all mankind was created equal in the respect that they were endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.


PREAMBLECreatorWhy a Creator? We are given five attributes of God in this Declaration of Independence. In the Introduction we are introduced to Nature’s God as the Supreme Lawmaker, but here in the Preamble we are told he is a Creator of all men and the Source of all rights. At the Conclusion, He is appealed to as our Supreme Judge, in whom we can rely on the protection of divine Providence. No longer are we dependent upon the divine right of kings, but we are dependent on Him as the Lawmaker, the Creator of men, the Source of all rights, the Supreme Judge, and the divine Providence.


PREAMBLEUnalienable RightsWhat does it mean unalienable rights? Unalienable comes from the Latin in + alienus, and means not transferable or not to be taken away. Potentially, we were created equal in that we were gifted by God with certain rights that are not transferable or to be taken away. This was a bold statement to a king who believed in the divine right of kings, a doctrine in which a king was not subject to earthly authority, but derived their right to rule from the will of God. Yet, St. Paul essentially stated the same thing as Jefferson when he said, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Jefferson further explained that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were God given rights that were not transferable nor were to be taken away.


PREAMBLELifeWhat is meant by life? The Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines life as “that state of being in which the soul and body are united.” In other words, life is from conception to death. Mankind was created by God who breathed into the nostrils of man the breath of life, and mankind became a living soul. We were a special part of creation, even above the animal kingdom, because God breathed his Spirit into us. This is the reason why life is sacred, even from conception. Scripture records that Cain was the first person to violate life when he murdered his brother Abel. After the flood, the Noahic covenant, which we as Noah’s descendants are still under, established the death penalty on anyone who committed murder. The main purpose of the death penalty is that the Lord requires the life of the murderer and to remove evil from the land. Why? Life is sacred because it is a gift from God and we were created in the image of God.


PREAMBLELibertyWhat is liberty? Liberty is to be free to do something, whereas freedom means to be free from something. While liberty is granted by God, freedom has to be maintained. Therefore, freedom is subordinate to liberty. Because liberty is an unalienable right from the Creator, it cannot be taken away from us, but we may be restricted from exercising our liberties until we have gained our freedom. A child has been given liberty from God, however his parents have restricted his liberty until he/she comes of age and is no longer under the tutelage of his/her parent. Likewise, God has given us liberty; however, we must choose to exercise our rights or to be ruled by a king.


PREAMBLEPursuit of HappinessWhat is the pursuit of happiness? Epicurean happiness had to do with civic virtues of courage, moderation, and justice rather than social happiness which was achieving individual pleasure. Jefferson understood happiness to be connected with arête or virtue or excellence. Happiness was not equivalent to wealth, honor, or pleasure. It is an end in itself, not the means to an end. In the Massachusetts Constitution drafted in 1780, we see happiness defined, “As the happiness of a people, and the good order and preservation of civil government, essentially depend upon piety, religion and morality; and as these cannot be generally diffused through a community, but by the institution of the public worship of GOD, and of public instructions in piety, religion and morality:” Therefore, the pursuit of happiness was the pursuit of virtue dependent upon piety, religion, and morality.


PREAMBLEThat 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.


PREAMBLEConsent of the GovernedIsn’t the consent of the governed self-explanatory? No, philosophical semantics can alter the meaning. For someone following the social contract theory of Thomas Hobbes, who influenced modern political philosophy and political science, the consent of the governed would mean for the people to accept the established order of the sovereign state. On the other hand, John Locke believed that the government existed to protect the natural birthrights of people, which is life, liberty, and property. Influenced by John Locke’s ideas of social contract, Jefferson placed them into the Declaration of Independence, and the founding fathers unanimously signed the document. Why? Because they were on the same page concerning John Locke’s ideas of social contract, including the phrase “consent of the governed”.


PREAMBLERight of the People To Alter or To Abolish ItWhat was meant that the Right of the People was to alter or to abolish the Form of Government? The philosopher John Locke had written of the right of citizens to remove any conflicting power, such as an Executive Power or Legislative Power, which would impede them from reinstating their Legislature, or the right of citizens to erect a new Form. Just a month prior, the Virginian statesman George Mason had written, “whenever any government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority for the community hath an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform, alter or abolish it.” Hence, Jefferson wrote whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, that is to secure these rights of life, liberty, and happiness, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish the old, instituting a new Government.


PREAMBLEPrudence ... All Experience Hath ShownWhat does Jefferson say about having prudence and what all experience has shown? While Jefferson warns of caution in changing a long established Government for light and temporary causes, he acknowledges that mankind are more disposed to allow evils rather than to correct them by abolishing the familiar.


PREAMBLEDespotismWhat does Jefferson say about absolute Despotism? When there has been a long series of abuses and illegal seizures that reveals an outright tyranny, it’s not only the people’s right but it is their duty to throw off an oppressive Government, and provide new Guards for their future society.


PREAMBLEThrow Off Such GovernmentWhat does it mean to throw off such Government? To expel or discard is synonymous to throwing off. However, to throw off the Government is not about taking to the streets rioting and looting, nor is it about organizing a ragtag militia, because such actions can lead to a worse regime in control. What may be meant is for the States to secede or to call for a Convention, while establishing new Guards or defenses. In order to establish a new Form of government that reflects that mankind was created equal in the respect that they were endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, the people have to call on God. For example, while the South had grievances against the federal government and chose to secede, they lacked God’s blessing because they had forgotten that all their slaves were also created equal in the respect that they were endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. In order to throw off the Government and establish new Guards, it takes a righteous people working in harmony with the Creator.


TO BE CONTINUED

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