Difference between revisions of "Declaration of Independence commented"
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''When 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.'' | ''When 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.'' | ||
| − | + | :There are a few things to note in the first sentence. | |
| − | + | :*People are connected to a government by political bands - not chains. I.e., people consent to be governed. The Declarations states this explicitly in the next paragraph. | |
| − | + | :::Whenever that is not the case, when people are chained to a government, force is involved. | |
| − | + | :*There may come a time, in the life of a group of people, that it becomes necessary to withdraw that consent - to separate from a government to which they had formerly assented. | |
| + | :*People are entitled to a set of fundamental rights. The more famous phrase occurs in the next line of the Declaration, but this first line can be overlooked in this regard. According to Jefferson and the other signers, people are entitled to a separate and equal status among everyone else in the world. This, of course, is derived from the fact of 'unalienable rights' . . . | ||
''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.'' | ''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.'' | ||
| − | + | :This is the fundamental principle on which the differences between the colonies and England were based. | |
| − | : | + | :*This idea, this fact of fundamental rights with which everyone is endowed, and which are immutable (unalienable, can not be discarded or renounced) was invoked time and again in the 13 years leading up to the Declaration. [[Page insertlink|insert link]] |
::It is the premise on which a people's right to independence is based. | ::It is the premise on which a people's right to independence is based. | ||
::It is the premise underlying the right of a people to be governed only by their consent. | ::It is the premise underlying the right of a people to be governed only by their consent. | ||
::Until the Declaration, they were typically referred to as the right to 'life, liberty, and property'. | ::Until the Declaration, they were typically referred to as the right to 'life, liberty, and property'. | ||
| − | *This does not claim a right to happiness. It does claim a right to pursue happiness. | + | :*This does not claim a right to happiness. It does claim a right to pursue 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 effect their Safety and Happiness.'' | + | '' — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,'' |
| + | :*A group of people institutes a government for a single reason - to secure their fundamental rights. | ||
| + | ::And therefore, governments can only obtain just powers from the consent of the governed. | ||
| + | ::By contrast, a government may be imposed on people, but this involves force. Such a government derives its powers from its ability to exert force. | ||
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| + | ''— 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.'' | ||
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Georgia: | Georgia: | ||
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton | Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton | ||
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|HasAuthor=Jeff | |HasAuthor=Jeff | ||
|HasArticleDate=2014/04/20 | |HasArticleDate=2014/04/20 | ||
}} | }} | ||
Revision as of 15:05, 20 April 2014
2014/04/20 User:Jeff
