The Founding Principles of the Declaration of Independence
Treason and Heresy
Having spent an entire article on the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, we will now spend an entire article on the first few sentences of the document. These are full of deep and far-reaching meaning, and those permeate the entirety of the Constitution. Indeed, the psyche of every American is steeped in an unconscious assumption of these principles.
“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;”
Go back and read that little section again. Meditate on it for a few minutes.
What jumps out?
We. Hold. Truth. Self-evident. All. Created. Equal. Endowed. Creator. Unalienable. Rights. Life. Liberty. Pursuit. Happiness. Secure. Derive. Just. Power. Consent.
The fundamental principles come out fast and thick in these two and a half sentences. Those principles shook the very foundations of the British Empire – and by extrapolation, the foundations of ALL other governments in the world.
“We hold these truths” – who is the “we”? Jefferson, of course – he wrote the original draft. The men with whom he conferred in editing and preparing the final draft (John Adams and Benjamin Franklin). The other members of the committee appointed to write the document, and the entire Second Continental Congress who commissioned it. Who else? The colonists – British subjects, all – the very same who grew up believing that the King was their Sovereign: someone who exercised supreme and permanent authority over them (we’ll get to the status of kings shortly). The consensus of elected leaders, pastors, preachers, newspaper editors, citizen activists, and much of the citizenry. WE – the people. And we held truths – in this meaning, to formally assert or affirm. Truth: conforming to supreme reality. Which truths? The ones about to be listed. Restating this phrase with meanings detailed: “We, the people of these colonies, do formally and legally assert and affirm certain items as in conformance with the ultimate and supreme reality of existence.”
Furthermore, we hold these truths to be “self-evident” – that is, containing their own proof within them. If these truths do conform to the reality of existence, we can see that they would, of necessity, include their own proofs. Yet the truths about to be stated had never been put together in this way ever before in the history of humankind.
1. That all men are created equal.
All men? “Men” here is the collective noun for humankind – male, female, old, young. Created? Born that way, or have by virtue of our humanity; needing to do nothing to obtain what we are created to have. Equal in what way? Obviously not wealth; as a whole the colonies were significantly less wealthy than Britain, but much richer than many other parts of the world. There were (and are!) poor in every village. Some had great oratory or literary skills, while others could barely stammer. Tall and short. Beautiful and homely. So why on earth are they claiming “equal” – that’s just nuts! Actually, no. Equal in terms of Rights (see #3 below as well as the article “Primer, Part One” on this site). Equal under the law; that justice be applied fairly whether one is a pauper or as rich as Croesus, alone in the world or with many friends in very high places. And most of all, equal in the eyes of the Creator: we are all made in the image and likeness of God. This truth is acknowledged here; all are precious in His eyes, and worthy of the respect of every other man for that fact alone.
2. That all men are endowed, by their Creator.
Whatever we are endowed with does NOT come from any government, or from any other human. These are gifts given to us by God Himself – and gifts given by the Almighty Creator of the Universe are NOT subject to reverse, theft, over-rule, exclusion, or even discussion by mere humans. Off limits. Off the table of discourse. Not subject to revision. The Almighty is not subject to second-guessing or editorial review by mere humans.
3. With certain unalienable Rights.
Let me again refer you to the article on this site, “Primer, Part One” for a greater discussion of rights – or Badnarik’s site, also linked from this one. All rights derive from property – starting with your body. Unalienable means inherent and inseparable. You cannot divest yourself of “rights” just as you cannot divest yourself of a heartbeat: both are intrinsic parts of your existence.
4. Among these are Life.
Start with the basics! Without your life, you have nothing. Your life is a gift to you from God; no one may take that from you with impunity. (You may act in such a way as to forfeit that right; that is another discussion.) Your life belongs to YOU, not to a king or to the government. YOU are the one who has sovereignty over your life.
5. Liberty.
Along with your life, is the concomitant right to live that life freely – the limitation being not to impinge on the equal rights of others to live their own lives freely.
6. The Pursuit of Happiness.
Jefferson had read Locke’s “Second Treatise on Government” and in one of his earliest drafts (possibly the “Composition Draft” but I cannot now find my reference source buried somewhere in the old computer) he used Locke’s term here of “Property” instead of “Pursuit of Happiness”. This term would underscore the primacy of property rights (starting with your very first piece of property: your own body) in the minds of the Continental Congress. It was changed, however, to the Aristotelian Ideal of “pursuit of happiness” – which was NOT a dream of channel-surfing the tube in your sweats, beer in hand. Rather, that ideal means to strive for excellence in every area of your life: work, faith, relationships. We are not to expect “handouts” of happiness; we are to be left FREE to live our lives pursuing excellence in those lives, for our good, the good of our families and society, and for the glory of God.
“To Secure these Rights, governments are instituted” – stating here that the true purpose of government (in line with Cicero’s “natural law” being right reason in agreement with nature) is solely to secure (protect, defend, hold inviolable) those Rights with which our Creator endowed us. Not to give us stuff. Not to provide medical care. Not to provide retirement income. Not to force local schools to accept “standards” not acceptable to parents or children. To secure the rights of the people to live their lives on their OWN terms.
“Deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” We tend to gloss over that word “just” in this sentence portion – yet it is crucial. What are the “just” powers of a government? That depends, in part, on the government in question. That is not an evasion or a casuistry. It is fact. The “just” powers of a government are powers that (a) help in securing the rights of the people, (b) are powers that have been specifically delegated to that government, and (c) are powers that the people have given actual consent to – not powers usurped by an over-arching government seeking power at the expense of the people. In our federal system, we have two (or more) levels of government. The federal level is where securing our Rights is done large-scale, impersonal, and mostly at a distance: defense against aggression by other countries; protection of our property by laws against counterfeiting; protection of our property by uniform patent/trademark systems; as well as other areas (please see Publius Huldah’s “God Given Rights…” with particular attention to Section 4). The state level is closer, more personal, and visible in our daily lives: prosecuting criminals; safety and health ordinances (food purity, elevator inspections, et cetera); enforcement of contracts; cleanliness standards in restaurants; courts where justice is equal. Either part of the state level, or another level lower, is county/local, with building codes, brush-burning permits, or rules against sending children to school when they are ill.
With our federal system, the only “just” powers at the national level are the big-ticket items; the rest of the areas where more governance might be needed were reserved to the states and localities. Keep in mind that government power does come, ultimately, “from the point of a gun” and you will see why the principle here was to limit that power as much as possible while maintaining a government still capable of functioning.
How are these truths treason and heresy? There is a longer discussion of this point elsewhere on this site. Briefly, here, by long-standing tradition, a king is one given that authority by God (or so he claims) to RULE OVER his kingdom. His is the power; his is the responsibility as well. This was the underlying assumption EVERYWHERE in the entire world. It still IS, everywhere but here in the United States – the difference today, in much of the world, is that supreme authority is in an amorphous “government” rather than a specific king. Most of the world has yet to realize the “self-evident” truth that our Rights are a gift to each of us from our Creator – and it is the vested interests of their governments to prevent them from so realizing!
©2014 by the author
Treason and Heresy
Having spent an entire article on the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, we will now spend an entire article on the first few sentences of the document. These are full of deep and far-reaching meaning, and those permeate the entirety of the Constitution. Indeed, the psyche of every American is steeped in an unconscious assumption of these principles.
“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;”
Go back and read that little section again. Meditate on it for a few minutes.
What jumps out?
We. Hold. Truth. Self-evident. All. Created. Equal. Endowed. Creator. Unalienable. Rights. Life. Liberty. Pursuit. Happiness. Secure. Derive. Just. Power. Consent.
The fundamental principles come out fast and thick in these two and a half sentences. Those principles shook the very foundations of the British Empire – and by extrapolation, the foundations of ALL other governments in the world.
“We hold these truths” – who is the “we”? Jefferson, of course – he wrote the original draft. The men with whom he conferred in editing and preparing the final draft (John Adams and Benjamin Franklin). The other members of the committee appointed to write the document, and the entire Second Continental Congress who commissioned it. Who else? The colonists – British subjects, all – the very same who grew up believing that the King was their Sovereign: someone who exercised supreme and permanent authority over them (we’ll get to the status of kings shortly). The consensus of elected leaders, pastors, preachers, newspaper editors, citizen activists, and much of the citizenry. WE – the people. And we held truths – in this meaning, to formally assert or affirm. Truth: conforming to supreme reality. Which truths? The ones about to be listed. Restating this phrase with meanings detailed: “We, the people of these colonies, do formally and legally assert and affirm certain items as in conformance with the ultimate and supreme reality of existence.”
Furthermore, we hold these truths to be “self-evident” – that is, containing their own proof within them. If these truths do conform to the reality of existence, we can see that they would, of necessity, include their own proofs. Yet the truths about to be stated had never been put together in this way ever before in the history of humankind.
1. That all men are created equal.
All men? “Men” here is the collective noun for humankind – male, female, old, young. Created? Born that way, or have by virtue of our humanity; needing to do nothing to obtain what we are created to have. Equal in what way? Obviously not wealth; as a whole the colonies were significantly less wealthy than Britain, but much richer than many other parts of the world. There were (and are!) poor in every village. Some had great oratory or literary skills, while others could barely stammer. Tall and short. Beautiful and homely. So why on earth are they claiming “equal” – that’s just nuts! Actually, no. Equal in terms of Rights (see #3 below as well as the article “Primer, Part One” on this site). Equal under the law; that justice be applied fairly whether one is a pauper or as rich as Croesus, alone in the world or with many friends in very high places. And most of all, equal in the eyes of the Creator: we are all made in the image and likeness of God. This truth is acknowledged here; all are precious in His eyes, and worthy of the respect of every other man for that fact alone.
2. That all men are endowed, by their Creator.
Whatever we are endowed with does NOT come from any government, or from any other human. These are gifts given to us by God Himself – and gifts given by the Almighty Creator of the Universe are NOT subject to reverse, theft, over-rule, exclusion, or even discussion by mere humans. Off limits. Off the table of discourse. Not subject to revision. The Almighty is not subject to second-guessing or editorial review by mere humans.
3. With certain unalienable Rights.
Let me again refer you to the article on this site, “Primer, Part One” for a greater discussion of rights – or Badnarik’s site, also linked from this one. All rights derive from property – starting with your body. Unalienable means inherent and inseparable. You cannot divest yourself of “rights” just as you cannot divest yourself of a heartbeat: both are intrinsic parts of your existence.
4. Among these are Life.
Start with the basics! Without your life, you have nothing. Your life is a gift to you from God; no one may take that from you with impunity. (You may act in such a way as to forfeit that right; that is another discussion.) Your life belongs to YOU, not to a king or to the government. YOU are the one who has sovereignty over your life.
5. Liberty.
Along with your life, is the concomitant right to live that life freely – the limitation being not to impinge on the equal rights of others to live their own lives freely.
6. The Pursuit of Happiness.
Jefferson had read Locke’s “Second Treatise on Government” and in one of his earliest drafts (possibly the “Composition Draft” but I cannot now find my reference source buried somewhere in the old computer) he used Locke’s term here of “Property” instead of “Pursuit of Happiness”. This term would underscore the primacy of property rights (starting with your very first piece of property: your own body) in the minds of the Continental Congress. It was changed, however, to the Aristotelian Ideal of “pursuit of happiness” – which was NOT a dream of channel-surfing the tube in your sweats, beer in hand. Rather, that ideal means to strive for excellence in every area of your life: work, faith, relationships. We are not to expect “handouts” of happiness; we are to be left FREE to live our lives pursuing excellence in those lives, for our good, the good of our families and society, and for the glory of God.
“To Secure these Rights, governments are instituted” – stating here that the true purpose of government (in line with Cicero’s “natural law” being right reason in agreement with nature) is solely to secure (protect, defend, hold inviolable) those Rights with which our Creator endowed us. Not to give us stuff. Not to provide medical care. Not to provide retirement income. Not to force local schools to accept “standards” not acceptable to parents or children. To secure the rights of the people to live their lives on their OWN terms.
“Deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” We tend to gloss over that word “just” in this sentence portion – yet it is crucial. What are the “just” powers of a government? That depends, in part, on the government in question. That is not an evasion or a casuistry. It is fact. The “just” powers of a government are powers that (a) help in securing the rights of the people, (b) are powers that have been specifically delegated to that government, and (c) are powers that the people have given actual consent to – not powers usurped by an over-arching government seeking power at the expense of the people. In our federal system, we have two (or more) levels of government. The federal level is where securing our Rights is done large-scale, impersonal, and mostly at a distance: defense against aggression by other countries; protection of our property by laws against counterfeiting; protection of our property by uniform patent/trademark systems; as well as other areas (please see Publius Huldah’s “God Given Rights…” with particular attention to Section 4). The state level is closer, more personal, and visible in our daily lives: prosecuting criminals; safety and health ordinances (food purity, elevator inspections, et cetera); enforcement of contracts; cleanliness standards in restaurants; courts where justice is equal. Either part of the state level, or another level lower, is county/local, with building codes, brush-burning permits, or rules against sending children to school when they are ill.
With our federal system, the only “just” powers at the national level are the big-ticket items; the rest of the areas where more governance might be needed were reserved to the states and localities. Keep in mind that government power does come, ultimately, “from the point of a gun” and you will see why the principle here was to limit that power as much as possible while maintaining a government still capable of functioning.
How are these truths treason and heresy? There is a longer discussion of this point elsewhere on this site. Briefly, here, by long-standing tradition, a king is one given that authority by God (or so he claims) to RULE OVER his kingdom. His is the power; his is the responsibility as well. This was the underlying assumption EVERYWHERE in the entire world. It still IS, everywhere but here in the United States – the difference today, in much of the world, is that supreme authority is in an amorphous “government” rather than a specific king. Most of the world has yet to realize the “self-evident” truth that our Rights are a gift to each of us from our Creator – and it is the vested interests of their governments to prevent them from so realizing!
©2014 by the author