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A reaffirmation of independence By Michael C. Guilmette Jr. Originally published on July 2, 2009, in the Connersville News-Examiner. Two hundred thirty three years ago today — July 2, 1776 — the Second Continental Congress voted to dissolve the political bands between Great Britain and the 13 colonies on the North American continent.
The declaration exists in three parts, with the first being the most well known with its timeless statement on human rights: “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.” However, the American revolutionaries did not make this statement lightly, nor were they simply trying to promote some nebulous position on the nature of humanity. The revolutionaries made this statement to assert their right to break with the mother country, positing that governments exist at the assent of the governed. The American Revolution was unique in that it was the landed class and the established governments of the colonies that cast off the yoke of a faraway monarch, as opposed to pitchfork-wielding mobs who stormed castles to depose one ruler in order to impose another, as had been the norm for the era. To that end, the revolutionaries “mutually pledge[d] to each other our Lives, or Fortunes and our sacred Honor” in the closing line of the declaration, summing up the third section. In that section, the revolutionaries made the actual break with the Crown and codified the right of the new nation to exist and, if necessary, defend itself. The declaration stated that “Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes,” but what is curious about the American Revolution is that, for the time, the causes were comparatively light at first. The colonies were not being directly ruled by an iron-fisted authoritarian bent on leeching all the lifeblood from his people. Indeed, the colonies had largely been left alone for decades, but as all schoolchildren should know, it was taxation that drove the colonists to open rebellion. The British Parliament, trying to recoup the debt from the Seven Years’ War — the true first World War — passed a series of tax acts on the colonies without the consultation of the colonial people. The issue went unresolved and then snowballed, resulting in further encroachment by the British government, finally culminating in independence from Great Britain. Although not the most diabolical reason for the time, the American people clearly did not view excessive taxation as a light or transient cause. Furthermore, the American people of today still do not view excessive taxation as being neither light nor transitory — a point the current President of the United States should take to heart. The second part of the declaration was a point-by-point indictment of the British king, spelling out the grievances of the American colonists. While these grievances were written for the time, the fact that they were written exemplifies the fundamental right the governed have to grieve their governor. To that end, I shall offer my own list of grievances of the current President, submitted to a candid world: • He has failed to satisfactorily establish himself as a legitimate Citizen of the United States, thus bringing into question his eligibility to be President. • He has asked the Legislature to borrow Money on the credit of the United States far more than the credit can bear. • He has called in question the loyalty of military Veterans by publishing the claim they are potential recruits as domestic Enemies of our Republic. • He has failed to protect the Life of the most innocent among us at their time of greatest vulnerability. • He has removed those Watchers and Inspectors who have found against his supporters and friends. • He has invited the adulation of the mass Media, thereby robbing the people of the several States the basis for an informed Consent. • He has ignored the plight of people in foreign Lands who, in standing for their Liberty, have been oppressed by their rulers; and he has stood with rulers who would usurp the Will of the people to stay in power. • He has sought the counsel of other domestic Enemies of our Republic; and he has deferred to the total rulers of other foreign Lands. • He has erected a multitude of New Offices, or “czars,” to control our Industry and Commerce; the Officers serve at his Will alone, without the Consent of the Congress. • He has taken control of Banks and financials Institutions, and of Automakers, to force them conform to his Will and Desire. • He has proposed the control of our Energy to limit our Industry for no sound reason; and has offered only inadequate or unproven methods of Power generation; and to make more costly our means of Transportation. • He has, in Abeyance of our Constitution, asked that the Government provide the general Welfare be taking from us the Responsibility of our Health, thereby limiting our Pursuit of Happiness. • He has decreed to put among us those Enemies of Humanity who, having been captured in the committal of illegal War, have not cause to petition our Courts; and have proclaimed a desire to harm our citizens. While not a complete list, nor and actual call to rebellion, it should serve to illustrate one of our cornerstone rights the American revolutionaries and our Founding Fathers fought for so long ago — that our leaders are only our leaders if we allow them to be our leaders. Should this list of grievances continue to grow, We the People will reaffirm our right to decide for another leader. • Guilmette is managing editor of the News-Examiner. He may be contacted at mguilmette@newsexaminer.com. |
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Copyright © 2009, Michael C. Guilmette Jr. |
Two days later, Congress adopted a statement directed at King George III and the world, stating the reasoning and intentions of the citizens of the now independent States of America. This statement, entitled “The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,” set in motion a chain of events that removed British rule from the colonies and led to the crafting of the finest legal document ever written — the United States Constitution.
