Happy 4th of July

In the early morning of July 4th 1776, after months of grueling work during a hot Pennsylvania summer a small group of the finest men in the British American colonies finally came to an agreement on the Declaration of Independence. It had taken some time for the colonists to even agree to independence, but while the congress was debating a five man committee was appointed to write a declaration just incase: Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Ben Franklin, John Adams, and the man that would write the document, Thomas Jefferson. What is most interesting about the timing of writing a declaration is that America was already at war. When the Congress met and began debating, colonists and the British had already exchanged fire, first at the battle of Concord and Lexington and then at Bunker Hill.

This declaration is one of the finest documents ever written and I believe even inspired. It not only changed the course of this nation's history, but of the world. It introduced the world to new concepts:

“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.” It would take over a hundred years and another war, but Jefferson introduced the concept that all men were created equal. America was founded on the principle that men would be judged by their own merit and not by who their father was; America would not have an aristocracy. This first line would change the course of human events more than any political document.

“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” This line went against centuries of government theory. Basing his argument on the writings of John Locke, Jefferson challenged that Kings received their power from God. Locke argued that man had lived in the state of nature, where the stronger ruled by sheer might. Men agreed to sacrifice some freedom in order to establish governments that could protect them. Government agreed that with their new power they would protect the people they now governed. In other words man and government made a contract, so government derived their power from the people who consented to it. Jefferson was saying that governments could not impose their will over people, but must instead answer to them.

“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.” This line was at the heart of why Jefferson wrote the Declaration. Even though we were already at war, we still needed to convince the American colonists that what we were proposing to do, revolution, was justifiable. The main body of the Declaration was Jefferson giving a list grievances of the British not so much for the British sake, but more for the benefit of the colonists. Jefferson had to show that Britain had broken the contract.

Where Jefferson broke from what most were writing, is that Jefferson focused his attack on the King. Up till then, most of colonial rage was focused on Parliament. If you read the Declaration of Independence, and I suggest today that you do, notice that when he lists the objections, he begins each line with he … referring to the king. Only Jefferson’s last grievance was not directed towards the King, but instead to the British people. He blamed them for not aiding the colonist’s cause and allowing the King to suspend their rights.

Interesting, one objection that Jefferson put in the Declaration was removed. Jefferson blamed the Kings for beginning slavery. Of course southern colonists objected to any idea of slavery being wrong and so refused to approve the Declaration with any mention of slavery, so it was stricken.

The passing of the Declaration meant absolutely nothing, unless the colonists could win their freedom. The fact that a bunch of farmers could defeat the greatest empire in the world is truly remarkable. I believe God had a hand in the victory. God needed a land where the gospel could thrive.

I am so happy that I live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. I know our nation has gotten a black eye as of late, but we still are the greatest nation in the world. For all our faults, we are still the freest nation and are still judged on our own merits. I hope today we can put aside our differences and all can celebrate what is great about his nation. And as Jefferson wrote, “with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”