Almost exactly two hundred and forty five years ago our Founding Fathers were assembled in Philadelphia as the Second Continental Congress. Their proceedings were called to order on May 10th, 1775 with twelve of the thirteen colonies represented. This Second Continental Congress would become the de facto National Government going forward. Hostilities had broken out a month earlier, on April 19th, in Concord and Lexington. If we could go back and ask them about the state of things in the colonies, we would probably learn about confusion and misunderstanding, and uncertainty that might even compare to some of those sentiments we are feeling today.
Some sort of resolve was needed to establish just how the events of the day all fit together and how the governmental relationships between the colonies would operate together in the future. History tells us that on June 11th, of 1776 the Committee of Five was chosen and given the task of writing what would become known as the Declaration of Independence. I like to think about the Declaration of Independence as a petition of last resort. We cannot know what would have happened if the King had capitulated to the demands of the Colonies, but I do think that the Colonies were still open to the possibility as the Committee of Five began their work. John Adams of Massachusetts, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, and Robert Livingston of New York were the ones chosen to prepare this important draft.
The Declaration of Independence, in its final form, opens with:
“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.”
These words open the document and establish the framework of the content to follow – they are formative words and they have held their place in our history with steadfastness and certainty, but I argue that these words cannot convey their true and resolute meaning without the last two sentences contained in the document:
“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 Independent 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.”
“…we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” These were the words chosen to convey the importance our Founding Fathers placed on the proceeding document. Does anyone believe that our current crop of Senators holds the products of their work in similar solemnity?
The Sausage Grinder is Broken, will you help to fix it? If you haven’t read A Broken Sausage Grinder; Is Our Government Fundamentally Flawed?, you’re not prepared for the job.
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