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The Final
Paragraph of the Declaration
 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 INDEPENDENCE 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.
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Final Exam: The dictionary defines
"deism" as: "the belief, based solely on reason, in
a God who created the universe and then abandoned
it, assuming no control over life, exerting no
influence on natural phenomena, and giving no
supernatural revelation." Based on what you've
learned, and the last paragraph in the Declaration,
were America's Founders Deists?
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What Does Justice
Mean to You?
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The
Declaration's final paragraph says our government
may do those things which independent states "may
of right do," and earlier we said that free
government may only "justly" exercise the powers it
gets from the consent of the governed. But these
statements beg the question of what is "right" or
"just." There are only two possible answers to this
question. The first says that "the end justifies
the means" - government can do anything it wants as
long as the people go along with the goal
government is trying to achieve. The second says
that no matter how good or popular the end,
government may not use a means that violates the
rights to life, liberty, property, or any other
right, of the citizens. Which of these notions of
justice do you think agrees with the ideas of the
Declaration?
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Conclusion
The
logic by which the Declaration explains the purpose and
function of free government can be summarized in three
sentences:
- Man's rights come from God
- God's rules exist to protect man's rights
- Therefore, to secure our rights, government must,
just like citizens, obey and enforce God's rules
This
logic leads us to a very simple definition for freedom.
Freedom means the ability to have and enjoy your God-given
rights. The logic also explains how a government must be
limited if its citizen are to be free. Government may not
kill or allow killing except when the citizens themselves
would be justified in killing, otherwise it commits murder.
Government may not take property from a citizen except when
other citizens would themselves have a right to take that
citizen's property, otherwise it is stealing. And the same
analysis holds true for each of the last six of the
Ten Commandments, because
these are God's laws for how we are to treat others. A
government that fails to obey and enforce God's rules
infringes the rights of its citizens and may therefore be
altered or abolished.
Of
course, the United States did not yet have a Constitution
when the Declaration was published, but the Declaration's
final paragraph embodies the idea that our government would
be composed of representatives chosen by the people. The
fact that in America the people govern themselves means that
what individual citizens believe and value - and therefore
what they do - can affect the rights and freedom of other
citizens. This notion is the starting point for
understanding what it is that really makes America
great.
The Culture of Freedom
When
we talk about what individuals believe, what they value, and
what they do, we have gone beyond government and are talking
about "culture." In America, government and culture are
directly linked. Our governors - our president, congressmen,
and judges - are not kings or aristocrats, they are ordinary
citizens. The consequence of this fact is that our
government will be no better or no worse than the people are
themselves. Our government will directly reflect our
culture. If our culture believes and teaches that
individuals should obey the rules that protect our rights
and create freedom, then our government will obey those
rules and our rights and freedom will be secure. If, on the
other hand, our culture disdains those rules, or does not
even know what they are, and does not pass them along to
future generations, then we will quickly find ourselves with
a government that disregards the rules that protect our
rights, and our freedom will be in jeopardy. Our freedom
depends on us.
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Text on the Declaration of Independence!
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