Stewards of the Visual Exposition
The U.S. Has a Rich English History
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
... We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, 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. -- And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."
After acknowledging that freedom and liberty are based on "self-evident truths, that governments are instituted among men and derive their powers from them, and that people have the right to abolish their government when it becomes destructive of its ends, Jefferson then went on in the Declaration of Independence to offer support for the colonies' claim of separation. The Declaration set out a list of grievances against King George in order to justify to Great Britain and before the rest of the world why the colonies were breaking their ties with the mother country. Such grievances included:
He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
For taking away our charters, for abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments.
For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
For imposing taxes on us without our consent:
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people
He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of trial by jury.
Jefferson wrote: "In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people." For two years, Jefferson had wanted to label King George as a tyrant. In his Summary View of the Rights of British America, he reminded Virginia's delegates to the first Continental Congress how the colonists had repeatedly sought redress from the King. "We were asking for rights, not favours !" He instructed delegates that "our ancestors, before their emigration to America, were the free inhabitants of the British dominions in Europe, and possessed a right which nature has given to all men, of departing from the country in which chance, not choice, has placed them, on a quest for new habitations, and once there, establishing new societies, under such laws and regulations as to them shall seem most likely to promote." Jefferson believed that "British Americans" were sovereigns (from John Locke). Whereby the colonists were once "subjects of the king," once King George denied them the rights of Englishmen, they became independent sovereigns who became "citizens of their respective states." (some sovereignty transferring from the individual to the collective body). Note that for the very first time in recorded history, individuals were being recognized as being the holders of sovereign power and not rulers or governments.
The finished document was presented to the Second Continental Congress on June 28th. Thomas Jefferson, being a poor speaker, did not present the Declaration. It was read to the Congress. In general, it impressed the Assembly, but there were some reservations. The more eloquent Adams vigorously defended the work, which was finally adopted on July 2nd. That evening Adams wrote his wife Abigail a letter expressing his thoughts on the new declaration, stating: "The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival."
[Here is an interesting bit of historical trivia: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the same day - July 4, 1826. Jefferson, at his home in Virginia, passed away just a few hours before Adams did, at his home in Massachusetts. Both of these great architects of the document that so profoundly helped to give birth to this our new Nation died 50 years to the day from the birth of the country they founded.]
[Also note that Richard Henry Lee was elected to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, but he refused to attend. He had been aware of Madison's plans to draft a new Constitution (rather than fix the Articles of Confederation, as was the reason given for the Convention) but he was unconvinced that a new Constitution was needed to structure a more effective government. In Lee's words: "To say that a bad government must be established for fear of anarchy is really saying that we should kill ourselves for fear of dying. " After the new Constitution was drafted, Lee fought against its ratification. He believed the new Constitution called for a strong central government at the expense of strong individual States. He feared it would weaken states' rights and powers. He also distrusted the document because it lacked a Bill of Rights. He felt that the combination of these factors - the creation of a strong central government which would have the power to do what it likes against individuals, without any form of guaranteed Rights (Bill of Rights) for its citizens and without strong States to protect them - would eventually put them back in the hands of a tyrant. In fact, Lee published a series of articles entitled "Letters from the Federal Farmer," which were part of the Anti-Federalist Papers. The Anti-Federalist Papers were a series of letters, essays, and articles which criticized the proposed Constitution drafted in Philadelphia in 1787. They elaborated in detail on its perceived faults and inadequacies. They "Letters from the Federal Farmer" were published in New York in the 'Poughkeepsie Country Journal' from November 1787 through January 1788. The first five of these articles were also republished as a pamphlet in New York and circulated widely. In addition to this pamphlet, in 1788 Lee published an additional thirteen "Letters from the Federal Farmer" which went into even more detail. It was in response to the Anti-Federalist Papers that James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and lawyer John Jay wrote the Federalist Papers were written, and it is with the dialogue between the two that we are able today to understand how our Founders explained the Constitution and its purpose].
The Declaration of Independence is our nation's most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson's most enduring legacy. Drafted in simple terms, yet with magnificent eloquence, Jefferson expressed the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people. The political philosophy of the Declaration was not new; as explained earlier, its ideals of individual liberty had already been embraced by England's treasured documents. Its ideals of individual liberty were also embraced on a more fundamental level, as articulated by the ancient Roman lawyer and statesman, Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.) and then by English philosopher, John Locke (1632-1704). This was the concept of Natural Law and the acknowledgement that all men are endowed with certain fundamental rights from our Creator, which are essential to our humanity and morality, and to our ordered and purposeful existence. When Jefferson wrote that freedom and liberty are based on "self-evident truths," he was precisely referring to Natural Law.
John Locke
What is Natural Law? Well, one day Cicero went walking and was trying to imagine what an ideal Rome would be like. It would have to be ruled by virtuous men, he reasoned. How would it be governed? As the foremost lawyer of his day, he was concerned with law. He wondered where laws came from. He came to conclude that law, that which distinguishes good from bad and which discourages and punishes the latter, did not originate from man's mind alone. That is, law was not a matter of written statutes but was a matter deeply and fundamentally ingrained in the human spirit. Cicero reasoned as follows:
1). There is an order to the universe: Creator - Universe - People - Governments. There is a Creator who created the universe then created people. People, in turn, form into communities, and in order to keep their communities ordered, they establish local governments. Finally, local governments give rise to central governments.
2). Humans, like the Earth and the universe itself, were created by a higher power (a Creator; a God)
3). This higher power which created the universe also endowed humans with a bit of its own divinity (that is, He gave us the powers of speech, intelligent thought, reason, and wisdom).
4). As a result of this "spark of divinity," humans are and should be (forever) linked to their Creator and should honor this relationship.
5). Because humans share reason with this higher power, and because this higher power is presumed to be benevolent, it follows that humans, when employing reason correctly, will also be benevolent.
6). Reason and benevolence (termed "right reason") is therefore the foundation of law. When this is applied in a society, it is JUSTICE.
7). Natural Law is timeless; It is valid for all nations for all times.
8). It operates best when men are virtuous and honorable. It fails when men are greedy and depraved.
In other words, Natural Law, the bedrock principle of our founding documents, states that our rights come from God and not from any government. John Locke took the concept of Natural Law one step further and applied it to government. According to Locke, people (not rulers or governments) are sovereign. Individuals have sovereign rights which no government can take away. As such, government is morally obliged to serve people, namely by protecting life, liberty, and property, and to do so with limited powers and applying the principle of checks and balances so as to be sure to government remained honest and focused or beholden to its goals. This is the bedrock principle of Locke's view of government. He explained that natural law tradition could be observed with the ancient Jews and that rulers, when properly constrained, would legitimately serve justly because there are moral laws that apply to everyone.
Go Back
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
... We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, 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. -- And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."
After acknowledging that freedom and liberty are based on "self-evident truths, that governments are instituted among men and derive their powers from them, and that people have the right to abolish their government when it becomes destructive of its ends, Jefferson then went on in the Declaration of Independence to offer support for the colonies' claim of separation. The Declaration set out a list of grievances against King George in order to justify to Great Britain and before the rest of the world why the colonies were breaking their ties with the mother country. Such grievances included:
He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
For taking away our charters, for abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments.
For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
For imposing taxes on us without our consent:
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people
He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of trial by jury.
Jefferson wrote: "In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people." For two years, Jefferson had wanted to label King George as a tyrant. In his Summary View of the Rights of British America, he reminded Virginia's delegates to the first Continental Congress how the colonists had repeatedly sought redress from the King. "We were asking for rights, not favours !" He instructed delegates that "our ancestors, before their emigration to America, were the free inhabitants of the British dominions in Europe, and possessed a right which nature has given to all men, of departing from the country in which chance, not choice, has placed them, on a quest for new habitations, and once there, establishing new societies, under such laws and regulations as to them shall seem most likely to promote." Jefferson believed that "British Americans" were sovereigns (from John Locke). Whereby the colonists were once "subjects of the king," once King George denied them the rights of Englishmen, they became independent sovereigns who became "citizens of their respective states." (some sovereignty transferring from the individual to the collective body). Note that for the very first time in recorded history, individuals were being recognized as being the holders of sovereign power and not rulers or governments.
The finished document was presented to the Second Continental Congress on June 28th. Thomas Jefferson, being a poor speaker, did not present the Declaration. It was read to the Congress. In general, it impressed the Assembly, but there were some reservations. The more eloquent Adams vigorously defended the work, which was finally adopted on July 2nd. That evening Adams wrote his wife Abigail a letter expressing his thoughts on the new declaration, stating: "The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival."
[Here is an interesting bit of historical trivia: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the same day - July 4, 1826. Jefferson, at his home in Virginia, passed away just a few hours before Adams did, at his home in Massachusetts. Both of these great architects of the document that so profoundly helped to give birth to this our new Nation died 50 years to the day from the birth of the country they founded.]
[Also note that Richard Henry Lee was elected to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, but he refused to attend. He had been aware of Madison's plans to draft a new Constitution (rather than fix the Articles of Confederation, as was the reason given for the Convention) but he was unconvinced that a new Constitution was needed to structure a more effective government. In Lee's words: "To say that a bad government must be established for fear of anarchy is really saying that we should kill ourselves for fear of dying. " After the new Constitution was drafted, Lee fought against its ratification. He believed the new Constitution called for a strong central government at the expense of strong individual States. He feared it would weaken states' rights and powers. He also distrusted the document because it lacked a Bill of Rights. He felt that the combination of these factors - the creation of a strong central government which would have the power to do what it likes against individuals, without any form of guaranteed Rights (Bill of Rights) for its citizens and without strong States to protect them - would eventually put them back in the hands of a tyrant. In fact, Lee published a series of articles entitled "Letters from the Federal Farmer," which were part of the Anti-Federalist Papers. The Anti-Federalist Papers were a series of letters, essays, and articles which criticized the proposed Constitution drafted in Philadelphia in 1787. They elaborated in detail on its perceived faults and inadequacies. They "Letters from the Federal Farmer" were published in New York in the 'Poughkeepsie Country Journal' from November 1787 through January 1788. The first five of these articles were also republished as a pamphlet in New York and circulated widely. In addition to this pamphlet, in 1788 Lee published an additional thirteen "Letters from the Federal Farmer" which went into even more detail. It was in response to the Anti-Federalist Papers that James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and lawyer John Jay wrote the Federalist Papers were written, and it is with the dialogue between the two that we are able today to understand how our Founders explained the Constitution and its purpose].
The Declaration of Independence is our nation's most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson's most enduring legacy. Drafted in simple terms, yet with magnificent eloquence, Jefferson expressed the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people. The political philosophy of the Declaration was not new; as explained earlier, its ideals of individual liberty had already been embraced by England's treasured documents. Its ideals of individual liberty were also embraced on a more fundamental level, as articulated by the ancient Roman lawyer and statesman, Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.) and then by English philosopher, John Locke (1632-1704). This was the concept of Natural Law and the acknowledgement that all men are endowed with certain fundamental rights from our Creator, which are essential to our humanity and morality, and to our ordered and purposeful existence. When Jefferson wrote that freedom and liberty are based on "self-evident truths," he was precisely referring to Natural Law.
What is Natural Law? Well, one day Cicero went walking and was trying to imagine what an ideal Rome would be like. It would have to be ruled by virtuous men, he reasoned. How would it be governed? As the foremost lawyer of his day, he was concerned with law. He wondered where laws came from. He came to conclude that law, that which distinguishes good from bad and which discourages and punishes the latter, did not originate from man's mind alone. That is, law was not a matter of written statutes but was a matter deeply and fundamentally ingrained in the human spirit. Cicero reasoned as follows:
1). There is an order to the universe: Creator - Universe - People - Governments. There is a Creator who created the universe then created people. People, in turn, form into communities, and in order to keep their communities ordered, they establish local governments. Finally, local governments give rise to central governments.
2). Humans, like the Earth and the universe itself, were created by a higher power (a Creator; a God)
3). This higher power which created the universe also endowed humans with a bit of its own divinity (that is, He gave us the powers of speech, intelligent thought, reason, and wisdom).
4). As a result of this "spark of divinity," humans are and should be (forever) linked to their Creator and should honor this relationship.
5). Because humans share reason with this higher power, and because this higher power is presumed to be benevolent, it follows that humans, when employing reason correctly, will also be benevolent.
6). Reason and benevolence (termed "right reason") is therefore the foundation of law. When this is applied in a society, it is JUSTICE.
7). Natural Law is timeless; It is valid for all nations for all times.
8). It operates best when men are virtuous and honorable. It fails when men are greedy and depraved.
In other words, Natural Law, the bedrock principle of our founding documents, states that our rights come from God and not from any government. John Locke took the concept of Natural Law one step further and applied it to government. According to Locke, people (not rulers or governments) are sovereign. Individuals have sovereign rights which no government can take away. As such, government is morally obliged to serve people, namely by protecting life, liberty, and property, and to do so with limited powers and applying the principle of checks and balances so as to be sure to government remained honest and focused or beholden to its goals. This is the bedrock principle of Locke's view of government. He explained that natural law tradition could be observed with the ancient Jews and that rulers, when properly constrained, would legitimately serve justly because there are moral laws that apply to everyone.
| "Every Picture Tells a Story ... Don't It:" An August Afternoon in Charleston, Part II | In the Past, Body & Soul | The Constitutional Convention of 1787: A Miracle in Philadelphia |
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