The Declaration has been recognized as the founding act of law establishing the United States as a sovereign and independent nation, and Congress has placed it at the beginning of the U.S. Code, under the heading "The Organic Laws of the United States of America."
On July 4, 1776, the day of birth for the new country, the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence on behalf of the people living in the American colonies. The Declaration served a number of purposes for the newly formed United States. With regard to the power politics of the day, it functioned as a statement of governmental ideals for the Republic of the United States. Ever since their creation, these ideas have guided the development of U.S. government, including the creation of the U.S. Constitution in 1787.
The concepts of equal and inalienable rights for all, limited government, popular consent, and freedom to rebel have had a lasting effect on U.S. law and politics. Furthermore, the U.S. Constitution, in fact, carries out the very mandate of the Declaration of Independence. Therefore, one is born from the other, and cannot exist without the other.
Declarational law preceded and trumps our supreme, amendable secular law, the Constitution. As stated in our Declaration, the purpose of secular law (Constitution) is to secure our sacred, unalienable, equal, individual rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness -- i.e., private property honestly earned through creative labor: "That to secure these rights, Governments [constitutions] are instituted among Men...."
The American Revolution is first and foremost a revolution in sacred, unalienable human rights and their associated moral laws (Declaration), and secondarily a revolution in secular law (Constitution). We must be aware that secular law, and particularly the "Living Constitution" (Orwellian Newspeak for Dead Constitution), can be perverted into tyranny when such law becomes destructive of the individual's human rights.
"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual."
- Thomas Jefferson
1) "All men are created equal" is American Declarational law. "Men," in this instance, refers to all individuals, and the word "equal" refers to natural equal rights and equal application of just law; not unnatural, forced equal social and economic outcome.
Forced equality of outcome represents social engineering empowered by the injustice of unequal rights and inequality before law. This leads to excessive collectivization of some people's labored-for property, which is sent into the communal hands of a self-serving government that "re-distributes" this property to the less industrious in return for votes. All individuals are endowed with equal unalienable rights to life, liberty, and labored-for property, and to equality before law that must secure those rights -- all men and women made equal in value and rights by the Creator and Great Equalizer.
If each individual is made in the image of God, then his/her value is infinite; all individuals are thereby equal in value before God and equal in their unalienable rights and equal before the law. All (except for the disabled) should therefore be taxed equally. If man is not made in the image of God, then some will become, as in Animal Farm, "more equal than others" -- legal superiority based on unequal rights and unequal law. If man is not made in the image of God, then by Darwinian natural selection and their animal "Will to Power," an elite class of "Philosopher Kings" will inevitably arise. Equal rights and equal law are the essence of justice; unequal rights and unequal law are the essence of tyranny.
"Bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights (along with the majority), which equal laws must protect[.]"- Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address
2) "That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life ..." is American Declarational law. If man is made in the image of God, then since God lives and gave life to man, all individuals have a sacred unalienable right to life and self-defense.
3) "That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are ... Liberty ..." is American Declarational law. If man is made in the image of God, since God is free, then man has a sacred unalienable right to liberty -- man is born free. Human freedom can occur when all men are equal before just law, and freedom is a prerequisite to the individual's creative pursuit of happiness.
4) "That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are ... the pursuit of happiness ..." is American Declarational law. If man is made in the image of God, since God is the Great Creator, man has a sacred unalienable right to his/her own creativity -- a right to private property created through individual labor -- a right to the pursuit of happiness.
In order to save the fruit of the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence must be recognized and enforced as law. Amending our Constitution will also be necessary -- for example, limiting federal taxation and requiring federal spending not to exceed federal revenue. It appears that neither of these changes is likely to emanate from the federal government any time soon. However, "We the People" do not need the federal government to define our sacred human rights or their associated moral laws. According to the Declaration, those truths and laws are self-evident. "We the People" are capable of becoming masters of federal government through the amendment process.
"We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution." - Abraham Lincoln
Many later reform movements have quoted the Declaration in support of their cause, including movements for universal suffrage, abolition of slavery, women's rights, and civil rights for African Americans. Many have argued that this document influenced the passage and wording of such important developments in U.S. law and government as the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, which banned slavery and sought to make African Americans equal citizens.
John Eidsmoe, a Professor of Law at the Oak Brook College of Law and Government Policy,
writes the following:
"The role of the Declaration of Independence in American law is often misconstrued. Some believe the Declaration is simply a statement of ideas that has no legal force whatsoever today. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Declaration has been repeatedly cited by the U.S. Supreme Court as part of the fundamental law of the United States of America."
"The United States Code Annotated includes the Declaration of Independence under the heading 'The Organic Laws of the United States of America' along with the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, and the Northwest Ordinance. Enabling acts frequently require states to adhere to the principles of the Declaration; in the Enabling Act of June 16, 1906, Congress authorized Oklahoma Territory to take steps to become a state. Section 3 provides that the Oklahoma Constitution 'shall not be repugnant to the Constitution of the United States and the principles of the Declaration of Independence."
Identifying the Principles of the Declaration of Independence
We hold these truths to be self-evident...
By adopting this Declaration, the Founders were saying there are certain facts that are so obvious they don't need further proof or even any further discussion. This would certainly surprise some in academic circles today who love to philosophize for endless hours about the existence of a Creator, the equality of man, and the endowment of rights by the Creator. Here is the declaration in American law of the simple, fundamental belief in a Supreme Creator! And, they said, this is the only basis for sound government!
...all men are created equal.
If we believe in a Supreme Creator and that He created us, then we must be His children and we must all be brothers and sisters. As such, no one has an inherent right to rule over any one else. This is a Declaration of Independence not only from the King of England but also from our own fellow citizens who might attempt to force control upon us in the form of regulation or licensing. Why should I need to gain my neighbor's permission (or his agent, the government's permission) in order to go into a particular business or occupation? Anytime we set up someone to give permission to another, we have basically said we are unequal. Of course, this does not preclude having rules for the enjoyment of jointly owned property such as roads, public buildings, etc.
This phrase presupposes, as a self-evident truth, that the Creator made human beings equal in their rights, equal before the bar of justice, and equal in his sight. Of course, individual attributes and personal circumstances in life vary widely. Is there room here for classes of people, each with certain rights? No. When we begin to classify people, as rulers and dictators must always do for control, we deny the very equality we claim to have.
...that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
These are the three great natural rights of all mankind. An unalienable right is one which was given by the Creator and cannot be taken away by man. If man does violate these rights or take them from us, the offender will surely come under the judgment and wrath of the Creator because it interferes with the Creator's plan of happiness for His children. It is interesting to note that the Creator requires government, which is set up to protect man's rights, to punish individuals who attempt to take another's rights from him. The punishment always involves one or more of these three unalienable rights: life (capital punishment), liberty (confinement), or pursuit of happiness (taking property in the form of fines).
Because we have combined our resources into communities and states, we have also had to make certain rules for the orderly operation and use of these jointly owned facilities (roads, parks, utilities, courts, etc.) The rights to use these things are called vested rights because they do not come from the Creator and can be changed by the people. Vested rights are created to protect the three great unalienable rights of the people.
...That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
The purpose of government is to protect the rights of the people. When people join together to hire a policemen or a fireman, they have created government. But where does a policeman get his authority? From the only place where all authority is - from the people themselves. It is interesting to note that there is only authority in individuals not in groups. Groups are only empowered as individuals come together into groups and delegate to the group some of their authority. Even then groups of people in cities or states or nations can only do what individuals can do. This is an idea which is seldom understood. Somehow most Americans have the idea that groups take on additional authority just because they are a group. All we have to ask is, "From where does the additional authority come?" If an act is wrong for an individual to do it (like taking money from one person and giving it to another) then it is wrong for two people to do it or for a whole community or nation to do it.
If we could just get our legislatures to understand and agree to abide by just this one principle, our legislative sessions would be cut to just a few weeks and the American people would be spared the burden of hundreds of new laws each year.
Another interesting part of this ancient principle is that no agency of government has any right to exist except with the consent of the people. The people have consented to what is written in the Constitution, but where in the Constitution (or the plan of government) have the people given permission for the hundreds of offices of government which are overwhelming our people? It is true that Congress has created them but where did Congress get the authority from the people? We must answer - nowhere.
...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.
Here is the wish of billions of people since man began to be on this earth! To be able to peacefully change a repressive government and to replace it with one that will work according to the wishes of the governed. Peaceful self-repair! Even the Founders didn't have that.
Just think of it. Every two years we can change every legislator in every state in this union! Every two years we can change the whole House of Representatives in Washington! We can change one-third of the Senate! Every four years we can change the president and most governors in the land and another one-third of the Senate! We have the system in place which most people have just dreamed about. It takes no riots, no rebellions, no assassinations, no battles. We just have to want it badly enough!
A few have used the Founders' example as justification for suggesting we take up arms and use force to bring about change. They say, "But the Founders were in a minority and they used force to bring about change." The Founders held closely to the principle that only a majority of the people have authority to change the government. So they waited until they had a majority - it actually turned our to be unanimous among the states.
Acceptance of the Declaration of Independence is Acceptance of God as Our King
The true spirit of the Declaration is the spirit of liberty. It severs all ties to any earthly authority, except those whom the people choose for the protection of their unalienable rights. The Declaration of Independence is a declaration of individual liberty. It is a declaration of our individual belief that God is our one and only King.
When we reject the Declaration or let it fall into oblivion by our ignorance of it, it seems we are putting ourselves into the same position ancient Israel did when the people asked for a king. Samuel was the last great judge of Israel. The Israelites seemed to fall for the one-world philosophy and began to ask for a king so they could be like their neighbors. Samuel pleaded with them to stay free and independent of the rest of the world and of a king, but they refused to listen. When he went to the Lord, Samuel was told, "they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them." (1 Samuel 8:7)
Benjamin Franklin described the plight of ancient Israel, which is the fate America seems to be experiencing as we reject the freedom saving principles of our precious Declaration of Independence. Said he: "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters."
