Not A Revolution
 We
said before that the Declaration was an act of flight
- it was a Declaration of Independence, not of war. What's
important to see about the spirit of the people who founded
America is that even after their property was taken, their
homes were burned, and their loved ones killed, they did not
invite war. That is because Christian principles require two
steps be satisfied before force is justified: protest and
flight.
The
fourth and fifth paragraphs of the Declaration make clear
that the Founders protested not just to King George and
Parliament but also directly to the British People. Both the
colonial legislatures and the colonies acting together sent
petitions, from the resolutions of the Virginia Legislature
and the Stamp Act Congress of 1765 to the Olive Branch
Petition transmitted by the Continental Congress after the
battles at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. Private
citizens from Daniel Dulaney in 1765 to Thomas Paine in 1776
also published letters, essays, and pamphlets that were
circulated in Britain as well as the colonies. And colonial
agents like Ben Franklin and Edmund Burke, who was also a
Member of Parliament, represented our cause to the British
government and people.
When
our petitions failed, the Founders did not say they intended
to overthrow British rule by force, which is the meaning of
the word "revolution." Even though Britain had already begun
hostilities, by issuing the Declaration of Independence
America, in essence, walked away. If there was to be a
fight, the British would have to press it. The fact that our
government was not formed by revolution is a subtle point,
but it is only insignificant to those who are too willing to
use force themselves.
The
Declaration also explicitly embraces the idea of
forgiveness. By stating that we would hold all of mankind
enemies in war but friends in peace, we stated expressly
that our nation would not be like so many other nations in
the world, even today, who keep the possibility of war a
constant threat by nourishing ancient grievances.
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At
right is Independence Hall, as it appeared in 1776,
when the Continental Congress met to debate the
Declaration of Independence.
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The Fourth and
Fifth Paragraphs of the
Declaration
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
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 Tie 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.
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