The Declaration of Independence is the seminal document of the American Founding. It served two main purposes and has inspired countless people across generations and countries to claim freedom for themselves. The first purpose of the Declaration is a statement of universal principles that form the philosophical basis for a people to govern themselves. The second part is a list of grievances against the King of England that form the foundation for exercising their God given right to be independent. In other words, the Declaration of Independence provides the teleological basis for America. By contrast, the Constitution is an expression of the formal rules of government that are necessary to pursue the final cause of good government.
Thomas Jefferson states that “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.” He claims that these truths and the rights that emanate from them are from our Creator, not from man, and therefore no government can rightfully deprive people of them. He goes on to state that the purpose of government is to “secure these rights” and that all powers therein originate with the people. He continues by stating that whenever a government abuses this power, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish the government in order to institute a new one in its place. He clarifies that this undertaking should not proceed lightly, but with caution after a “long train of abuses and usurpations.” Thus, he therefore begins to list the abuses and usurpations executed by the King against the colonists as a means of justification for exercising the right of abolishing the King’s rule. Jefferson, and the Founders as a collective, would agree that if modern American government displayed a long list of abuse and usurpation against the people, that it, too, should be altered or abolished.
However, the Constitution created more than a decade after the Declaration was written in such a manner to prevent government from abusing its authority.
Power is separated into three co-equal branches that have checks to balance the power of the others: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial.
Each branch has clearly delegated powers that, if followed properly, would prevent abuse.
The government the Founders created had clear limits to its power, but possessed enough to achieve its ends. As James Madison wrote in Federalist #51, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”
America is a fully representative Republic, not a democracy, as a Republic also protects the interests of the minority and of the states as sovereign entities.
Government authority is extended over time and space, allowing for the rule of reason rather than the fleeting passions of men.
Finally, our government was created for the people to rule through persuasion and reason, utilizing our rights to free speech, assembly, the press, and religion, rather than resorting to coercion.
These two documents form the basis of what it means to be American. Over time, it is obvious to any reasonable person that we the people have ceded so much power to the government and that the government has no doubt abused that power on a number of occasions. We can either resolve to bring power back to the people, making the government accountable to us, continue to allow the government to follow the path towards authoritarianism, or decide that it is once again time to alter or abolish the government.
As Jefferson wrote to William Stephens Smith, “What country before ever existed a century and half without a rebellion? And what country can preserve it’s liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” The Civil War was one such rebellion. According to Jefferson, we could be ripe for another.