[COMMENTARY]'All Men...Are Endowed by Their Creator With Certain Unalienable Rights'

[Editor's Note: With these words--239 years ago--our Founding Fathers declared the independence of the United States of America.]

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

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.

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, 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.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

Via: CNS News

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John Adams Wanted Independence Day On July 2, Not July 4

Founding Father John Adams thought that America’s independence day celebration should be on July 2, not July 4. July 2, 1776 was day the Continental Congress voted for independence. (Karsun Designs Photography/Flickr)

As the Founding Fathers established the United States of America, they had their eyes on the future and they knew they were making history. But not everyone had the same opinion of the timeline of that history.

Most thought the big day was July 4, when then Continental Congress approved the text of the Declaration of Independence and sent it to the printer. But John Adams believed July 2, 1776, was the really the big day.

In one of the two letters he wrote to his wife Abigail from Philadelphia on July 3, 1776, John Adams said: “I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival.”

July 2 was the day the Continental Congress voted for independence. It approved a resolution that said: “these united Colonies, are, and of right ought to be free and independent States, and as such, they have, and of Right ought to have, full Power to make War, conclude Peace, establish Commerce, and to do all the other Acts and Things, which other States may rightfully do.”

On the day they took that vote, John wrote to Abigail: “It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by Solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”

That is, of course, exactly what happens now on the Fourth of July, not the second.

John Adams, who was right about so much, was also right about the way we would celebrate independence. Just not the date.

Via: WBUR-Boston

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[COMMENTARY] Founding Fathers declared all men are created equal

The Founding Fathers declared that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed with inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

During the America’s infancy, our forefathers dedicated themselves to the preservation of these rights. They willingly served their country, and in some cases, gave their lives to ensure that their fellow Americans could continue to live in a land of freedom and opportunity.

The government our Founding Fathers fought to establish is one in which each citizen has a voice, and its continuation depends on the consent of the governed. The adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776— 239 years ago—formed the foundation of the United States of America and the principles that continue to guide our nation today.

Each year we come together to celebrate our independence by watching fireworks, attending parades and spending time with family and friends. It is important, however, to remember we are able to celebrate this day because of our Founding Fathers’ extraordinary contributions to our great democracy and our military bravely answering the call of duty time and time again.

As a member of the Ohio National Guard for more than 29 years, I have seen firsthand the tireless work of the servicemen and women who bravely defend our country and our liberty. Thanks to their sacrifices, we remain fortunate to live in the land of the free and home of the brave.

As always, I am grateful for the opportunity to serve Ohio’s 15th Congressional District and I look forward to hearing from you about any federal issues facing our nation. Please do not hesitate to call my Washington D.C. Office at (202) 225-2015, Hilliard Office at (614) 771-4968, Lancaster Office at (740) 654-2654, or Wilmington Office at (937) 283-7049 to share your thoughts with me.

Via: Perry Tribune (Ohio)

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[EDITORIAL] States Don't Have Rights, People Have Rights

Next week, we’ll be celebrating the 239th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The eloquent cries for freedom and equality voiced in that properly revered document have become what professors Sid Milkis and Marc Landy call the “American Creed.” It’s a belief that all of us have the right to do whatever we want with our lives so long as we don’t interfere with the right of others to do the same. 

At its best, the Declaration has been used to challenge the nation to become better, to live up to its founding ideals.

That was certainly the case on July 4, 1852, when an escaped slave eloquently pointed out the contradiction between America’s founding embrace of freedom and its ongoing practice of slavery. “What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?” asked Frederick Douglass. He answered that it was “a day that reveals to him, more than all the other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.”

As millions of white Americans celebrated the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Douglass called the celebration a “sham” filled with “fraud, deception, impiety and hypocrisy.” How could slavery exist in a land founded on the premise that all of us are created equal? What about the unalienable rights of black Americans to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness?

Douglass, of course, was right. The contradiction between what America preached and what it practiced was inexcusable.

Those seeking to defend slavery did not deny the contradiction; they simply wanted to forget about the Declaration and all talk of equality. John C. Calhoun, perhaps the most powerful and influential defender of slavery, complained mightily that the ideals of the Declaration had “spread far and wide, and fixed itself deeply into the public mind.”

When residents in Calhoun’s home state fired upon Fort Sumter to start the Civil War, they were fighting both to defend slavery and to overturn the Declaration of Independence. President Abraham Lincoln pointedly defended the Declaration and described America as having been “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

When the South lost the Civil War, new opposition arose to the nation’s founding ideals. Progressives of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were OK with the idea of equality, but they hated the idea of individual rights that limited the power of government. Sounding a lot like Calhoun, President Woodrow Wilson complained that the American people had never gotten over the Declaration.

Both the segregationists and the progressives saw the Declaration of Independence as an impediment to their plans. They wanted governments to have more power. In the case of the slaveholders, they wanted state governments to have the right to impose slavery or Jim Crow laws on black residents of their state. The progressives wanted the federal government to have the right to aggressively lead society and control the economy.

But, states don’t have rights. People have rights.

Via: Real Clear Politics

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