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.
[Born alive 3:00PM, 07/04/1776. T. Jefferson, attending]
Read more here.
Happy 243rd Birthday, America!
Charlottesville City Counsel has completely missed the point.
ReplyDeleteCharlottesville City Counsel has completely missed the point.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a while since I have read, in depth, the full document. Not unlike the Scriptures, delving into it after years of your own growth gives new meaning to its content.
ReplyDeleteJefferson's brilliance still astounds me, yet current politicians and pundits see him as a racist. I suppose his four or five references to a Supreme Being are also unacceptable to the left. We are at a point in our culture where celebrating Americanism is considered un-American by more than a few.
Having more than one ancestor that was at arms for the cause 243 years ago, I will celebrate the birth of the USA. With all of its flaws, the best the world has ever seen!
^^@ what pc-not said=very good!
ReplyDeleteHave a safe and enjoyable 4th Francis, to you, yours and your readers.
I had to memorize the preamble to the Declaration as a child. Reread the first sentence carefully. Please note the following: It is a political document, and what it states must be understood only in a political context. Therefore, you must never take any of its stated premises or axioms out of a political context. What is not specifically enumerated, or asserted, is specifically excluded.
ReplyDeleteTherefore it clearly means: “All men are created equal POLITICALLY.” The Declaration rejects one of the mistaken premises associated with the French Enlightenment, namely that all men are also created physically, mentally, sexually, morally, socially, financially, economically, or in some other sense, equal. All humans are not equal in any other sense, nor should they be, nor is this a debatable issue for ethics or politics. Liberty involves the right of each individual to choose to be unequal (except in the political sense.)
This has become a socialist bone of contention in modern politics and ethics. The Socialists reject the obvious meaning of the American Declaration of Independence, namely that Humans are not radically equal, nor should they be. This is self-evident. As Aristotle correctly noted, the greatest form of inequality results from the attempt to make unequal things equal. An example is the famous bed of Procrustes, which metaphorically represents the process of making unequal things equal.
Similarly, all of our unalienable rights mentioned in that document are political rights. There are no social, economic, sexual, etc. rights. The attempted creation of economic rights, the so-called 2d Bill of Rights, requires the violation of the First Bill of Rights. christiansweeny@yahoo.com