Posted on 07/04/2015 8:16:42 AM PDT by unlearner
Today, while all Americans have heard of the Declaration of Independence, all too few have read more than its second sentence. Yet the Declaration shows the natural rights foundation of the American Revolution and provides important information about what the founders believed makes a constitution or government legitimate. It also raises the question of how these fundamental rights are reconciled with the idea of “the consent of the governed,” another idea for which the Declaration is famous.
When reading the Declaration, it is worth keeping in mind two very important facts. The Declaration constituted high treason against the Crown. Every person who signed it would be executed as traitors should they be caught by the British. Second, the Declaration was considered to be a legal document by which the revolutionaries justified their actions and explained why they were not truly traitors. It represented, as it were, a literal indictment of the Crown and Parliament, in the very same way that criminals are now publicly indicted for their alleged crimes by grand juries representing “the People.”
But to justify a revolution, it was not thought to be enough that officials of the government of England, the Parliament, or even the King himself had violated the rights of the people. No government is perfect; all governments violate rights. This was well known.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
:-)
One of which,
"He [George III] has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages"
Obama has done no less. With different savages.
I liked how someone put it: It was a breakup letter to England.
Excellent point.
We consent to be governed but these, rights can never be encroached upon...
Written in 1764 it was obviously very influential of our Declaration of Independence.
It’s by Randy Barnett, one of the good guys.
From this column on his third, he continues on the prominent theme of the others. The first purpose of government is to secure our rights. Absent that, even with our consent, all else is tyranny.
His writing style is a bit more lawyerly than Mark Levin's, but he gets his point across. FWIW, Barnett has been on Mark's radio show.
July 4 isn't "Constitution Day." July 4 is not celebrating a government, it is about rejecting a government that merits being rejected.
Worthy of a Federalist/Anti-Federalist ping.
Excellent article, thanks for posting. I only went to a site long enough to grab the text to read.
Chilling reference.
I am aghast... is this some kind of mistake could this actually have been published by WaPo, if it is not a mistake they will make up for it tomorrow or very soon by ten thousands of words of praise for the current Progressive Liberal Democrat Communist Party and its phony slouching presidential usurper.
Just Saying!
"To ignore these principles is nothing short of denying reality, like jumping off a roof imagining that one can fly. “For he, who attempts these things, on other principles, than those of nature, attempts to make a new world; and his aim will prove absurd and his labour lost.” By making “a new world,” Goodrich meant denying the nature of the world in which we live. He concludes: “No more can mankind be conducted to happiness; or civil societies united, and enjoy peace and prosperity, without observing the moral principles and connections, which the Almighty Creator has established for the government of the moral world.”
What Americans need to know is that it’s not law. It’s just a declaration. An editorial.
No, it's an indictment. . . a statement of reasons why a prosecution should be conducted. In this case the prosecution of a separation of ties, and if necessary a revolutionary war to execute that separation.
Congress voted for independence two days before, on July 2nd. The Declaration of Independence was intended to explain why to the world.
Congress voted for independence two days before, on July 2nd. The Declaration of Independence was intended to explain why to the world.
Obama has done many of the things King George III did and much worse.
On the 2nd, tehy voted for teh Lee Resolution, the body of which Jefferson incorporates into the Declaration:
“RESOLVED: 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.”
Two days later, independence was formally declared with teh adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.