Happy Birthday America
On July 4, 1776 the Continental Congress adopted what has become one of the greatest statements of principles in human history, the Declaration of Independence. With the adoption of this declaration the greatest country in the world was born.
Drafted by Thomas Jefferson with revisions by Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams and further revisions by the “Committee of Five”, the Declaration lays out the case for rebellion, as well as establishing the principles for a new national government, in one broadsheet (approximately three modern printed pages).
Drawing heavily on the works of various Enlightenment and Scottish Enlightenment figures the Declaration of Independence brought the ideas of natural law, self determination and Deism to the formation of government, as well as formalizing the idea that governments derive their power from the governed rather than a Divine Right of Kings. These arguments are contained in the Introduction and Preamble:
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 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.
The Declaration closes with the signatures of the delegates to the Continental Congress, and their pledge:
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of the divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
By signing this document the delegates assured their deaths if the revolution failed, and guaranteed there could be no amicable reconcilaition between Great Britian and the Colonies. The Revolutionary War would continue and the United States of America was born.
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[…] Now drink your Kool-Ade, you’re interrupting the television.” Independent Sources Says: July 4th, 2006 at 11:16 am Happy Birthday […]