Celebrate and Endorse

www.archives.gov July 4, 2011

The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, 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. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies: For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. 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 Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an 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 ties 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. 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. The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated: Column 1 Georgia: Button Gwinnett Lyman Hall George Walton Column 2 North Carolina: William Hooper Joseph Hewes John Penn South Carolina: Edward Rutledge Thomas Heyward, Jr. Thomas Lynch, Jr. Arthur Middleton Column 3 Massachusetts: John Hancock Maryland: Samuel Chase William Paca Thomas Stone Charles Carroll of Carrollton Virginia: George Wythe Richard Henry Lee Thomas Jefferson Benjamin Harrison Thomas Nelson, Jr. Francis Lightfoot Lee Carter Braxton Column 4 Pennsylvania: Robert Morris Benjamin Rush Benjamin Franklin John Morton George Clymer James Smith George Taylor James Wilson George Ross Delaware: Caesar Rodney George Read Thomas McKean Column 5 New York: William Floyd Philip Livingston Francis Lewis Lewis Morris New Jersey: Richard Stockton John Witherspoon Francis Hopkinson John Hart Abraham Clark Column 6 New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett William Whipple Massachusetts: Samuel Adams John Adams Robert Treat Paine Elbridge Gerry Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins William Ellery Connecticut: Roger Sherman Samuel Huntington William Williams Oliver Wolcott New Hampshire: Matthew Thornton

Page URL: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html

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Honor Bound

What is honor? How do we define it? More importantly, perhaps, is how do we practice or hold it? According to one of the many versions of Webster’s, honor is “high regard or respect, glory, fame, good reputation, or adherence to principles considered right, integrity.” Most of us seem capable of recognizing honor when we witness it, and fewer of us appear equipped to routinely practice it. For many, an honorable person is one who is worthy of praise, but for some, a person of honor deserves derision for being so “old fashioned and hidebound.” In a sense I believe that the latter view is the most prevalent in our nation today.

People of true character and honor often intimidate others. The light of their rectitude casts shadows on their peers. As a nation we have cherished our honorable heroes although there has been a cottage industry of historians who have tried to crumble their feet of clay. The difficulty with praising or admiring a person of honor is that we are not privy to their innermost thoughts, their daily actions or their unguarded moments. Honorable people might not always be honorable. Just as brave people are identified during times of stress and danger, honorable people should be measured by their commitment to principle when the opposition is the greatest. Bullies are not honorable, but when the moment arrives, they can be. Cowards are generally unworthy of honor, but if they rise to face the foe courageously, they can acquire honor. If one does one’s duty, is it honorable, or must one perform an extraordinary act of valor?

This column was germinated because of the resignation of a football coach. Not a President, nor a military leader or a prominent legislator….a football coach. A man whom I respect has resigned under a cloud of suspicion. I’ve always believed him to be an honorable person…a man of high principle and integrity. Some rules were broken by a few of his players, and he supposedly failed to report the infractions to his supervisors. Pundits and other players have speculated that he was seeking to protect the wayward players from “facing the music,” but the deeds were discovered, the story was transmitted far and wide, and the coach must now take the hit. The players, thus far, have been levied a five game suspension for their misdeeds. The coach resigned because of his apparent cover-up. Ever since Watergate we’ve been told that the cover-up is greater than the original transgression. In a sense that may be true. Clearly, breaking additional laws or rules should compound the penalty, but prosecutors, persecutors and pundits too often appear to ignore the guilty rabbit in order to chase the fresh scent.

In some situations the leader who risks his reputation for his squad would be lauded. The dynamic changes however when the squad is composed of young men with a sense of entitlement who have no financial resources. The scenario becomes murky, then dark when an infraction of a rule is hidden to save the images of the players….and perhaps the coach. A similar action by the coach in a different context would be praised as an act of honor. This time the act has been condemned, and the coach has left a post that he cherished. The line between honor and disgrace is a very thin one.

Just as the revisionist historians demean our heroes and deflate their reputations, so too will the story of the coach and his cover-up be written in tabloid fashion. History is never perfect because history cannot be precisely written. When eye witnesses disagree about a recent event, how can we expect the historian to “get it right” after time has passed? Will the coach’s honor be restored or upheld at some later date by a friendly author? No, because we rightfully distrust the accuracy of authors, historians and politicians. The coach’s legacy has been chiseled into the stone of memories. I continue to believe that he is an honorable man. I do not question his integrity. He made the wrong decision, and he and his reputation will forever be tainted.

Comment:   cearlwriting@hotmail.com     or   www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com

A Letter

Dear Officeholder (substitute title and name),

As a citizen I wish to thank you for your willingness to step forward and serve in public office. It must be challenging to voluntarily place oneself under intense scrutiny in order to run for political office. I do take your role as a leader very seriously, so please bear with me as I share with you some of my concerns and criticisms.

When you chose to serve in public office and ran for election, there was an implicit understanding that you would give your very best effort to confront and resolve many of the problems facing us today. One of the basic elements of problem-solving is to stop the problem from becoming worse when attempting to resolve the issue. In my view, you and your colleagues have failed in that regard. Despite all the rhetoric about “directions” and “paths,” our difficulties continue to grow more ominous. High-sounding language and back-room deals do NOT stop the bleeding. Commitment to principle and devotion to YOUR OATH of office will staunch the flow. Our troubles have been caused by two primary factors: political leaders who try to please everyone and public “servants” who ignore the Constitution of the United States.

When our political leaders maintain fidelity to the Constitution, they do not wander into the thickets of irresponsible spending and denial of individual liberty. Every time a public servant strays outside the constitutional limitations the citizens either lose freedom, money or property. Government does not produce anything of value. Government is merely a redistribution mechanism, and indeed, an inefficient one at that. Our brilliant Founders recognized that for a nation to prosper the people must enjoy the maximum freedom allowable for a civil society. You and your colleagues have either unconsciously or intentionally undermined the beautifully balanced system anticipated and designed by the Framers of our country.

Many people who enter public life want to do “good.” When they drift beyond the parameters of the Constitution, the “good” often becomes chaotic and counter-productive. Your oath, if taken seriously, compels you to OBEY the Constitution…not to forage far and wide while looking for social ills to heal. Government has proven to be an incredibly flawed instrument, and for anyone to assume that government is the best vehicle for correcting deficiencies in the social structure is wishful and delusional thinking.

Perhaps I am wrongly casting you among those who have grossly abused their power and their oaths. If so, I apologize, but I do beseech you to stand firm…to speak loudly and forcefully…to resist EVERY usurpation of our liberties and every violation of the Constitution. Even if you are not actively engaged in the undermining of our Constitutional government, you cannot comply with or ignore those who are. Your sworn duty, before God and the citizens, is to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. Meekly allowing others to run roughshod over our freedoms while confiscating our hard-earned wealth without bellowing in protest means that you are failing…failing to do your sworn duty.

If you believe that all the extra-constitutional legislation and regulation is justifiable, or if you accept that some of the unconstitutional governance is acceptable, then do the honorable thing and resign from office. If, however, you share my dismay with the unconscionable perversion of our Constitution, then fight with fury…fight with fervor. The stakes are too high for comity and collegiality to rule the day. When your time on earth has ended, do you want your legacy to be one of a smiling, pleasant public servant who watched the nation crumble? Dear public servant, please climb out of your comfort zone and take the hill. Your constituents need you to defend our liberties and our futures. Do it now.

Finally, (Mr./Ms.)____, are you willing to endorse and actively support legislation that eliminates the officeholder immunity provisions of the law and would make public “servants” legally liable for violation of their oaths or the Constitution? I eagerly await your response. If you do not reply, I must assume that you favor unconstitutional tyranny rather than true public service. Our land of freedom is at stake. It is time for YOU to step forward and FIGHT.

Sincerely,

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com    or   www.littlestuff-minoosha.blogspot.com