This Saturday is the 239th birthday of the United States. Amidst the fireworks, hotdogs, flags and beer, what are we really celebrating? When those men gathered in Philadelphia that summer, what did they hope to accomplish? If you were to have asked them, they would have told you that they wanted to govern themselves and be left with a minimum of interference in their trades, professions and businesses. That is not very different from what we want today.
In trying to achieve that end, Jefferson expounded the philosophy of John Locke (with a smattering taken from scripture and Hobbes) in writing the Declaration. That document was the philosophical argument for achieving “home rule” and economic freedom for Americans. The 13 colonies were no longer to be ruled from afar by a tyrannical monarch and unrepresentative parliament but rather each colony would govern itself and form a loose confederation of member states.
The Declaration, while democratic, did not guarantee universal suffrage or equal rights for all. It is a document that enunciates broad truths that set the people of the United States on a path that is still unfolding. We may interpret the U.S. Constitution, but we cherish the Declaration. Our Declaration of Independence clearly states that the people have unalienable rights that cannot be taken away. Jefferson writes that governments are established by the people to secure and protect those rights. This is the revolutionary idea that the governed have the power to remove and dissolve the government. There is no divine right of kings or of other functionaries to rule without the will and consent of the people.
To paraphrase Joe Biden, this is a big deal. Even today, we forget that governmental bodies and officials can only rule us by our consent. That is why we must be active and engaged. In order to keep liberty and rights, the people must be ever vigilant and suspicious of those in power. It is the people’s duty to constantly be on guard against the usurpation of their unalienable rights.
Whether elected or appointed, our officials need to answer to the people. So the people must fulfill their duty of demanding that they do answer. From the president to the governor to the city manager to a commissioner, it is important that citizens engage, provoke and question their votes and decisions. For elected and appointed officials serve at your pleasure not theirs. On our 239th birthday, be especially vigilant to maintaining the gift Americans were given.