The Founding and the Defining of the United States of America

            Throughout the history of written language there have been documents that have been misinterpreted, misunderstood or just flat out ignored.  Sometimes the misinterpretations and misunderstandings can be attributed to changes in language over a period of time or from being incorrectly translated from either a foreign language or an older language that is no longer used.  Probably the best example of this would be the Holy Bible.  Fortunately, at least for the purpose of this writing, the Bible is more focused on an individual and their personal beliefs and salvation.  The documents I am concerning myself with are the documents that we as Americans refer to as our founding documents, the Declaration of Independence in Part 1, the Constitution of the United States in Part 2, and the Bill of Rights in Part 3.

Part 1

            In my very humble and uneducated opinion the most important of these documents is the Declaration of Independence.  The Declaration came about after the Colonists believed they had exhausted every possible means they had at their disposal to settle their differences with Britain.  In the Declaration they laid bare their argument and reasons for desiring separation from England.  The first paragraph alone explains what they were doing and why.

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.

They continue by stating what they believe to be the rights of man and where these rights come from.

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.        

From there they go on to state their case and explain that this was not a decision that came about easily, it was not, in common terms of today, a knee jerk reaction to a few wrong doings, in fact they state many examples of the abuses that led them to this monumental decision, in fact the list of abuses was actually shortened from the original draft.  The Declaration of Independence is the document that forms the United States, it is the first document to use that name, and therefore it is the founding document for the United States.

            Much of the Declaration was taken from Virginia’s Declaration of Rights.  One of the important changes that was made by the Continental Congress was to change “life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety” from Virginia’s Declaration to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.  The Continental Congress desired that slavery in the United States should end, therefore they did not want wording in their founding document that could be later used against them, and argument that even the founding document was allowing the ownership of slaves since they were considered property.  Here is one of the misinterpretations or misunderstandings of the Declaration of Independence, our founders wanted to see the end of slavery, granted they did not outright outlaw it, they felt it would end in due time without a fight and without misgivings from the Southern plantations that depended on slavery at that time.  The Declaration also clearly states that the above stated rights are unalienable rights granted by their creator, not by the British Government or any other Government, in fact the roll of Government should only be to secure these rights with the consent of the governed, the People.  Within the list of abuses are many examples of abusing the People unalienable rights perpetrated by the Crown.

            In the final paragraph of the Declaration of Independence there are numerous key statements, a few of which I will touch on here.

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.

Other then in the title this is the first place the Colonists use the United States of America, here is where they have declared the founding of a new Nation.  In that same line the Declaration clearly states that the united colonies are “Free and Independent States”, each and every colony is a separate and independent State, which in that time meant they were independent Countries.  In this one paragraph the Continental Congress founded a Nation and declared that Nation to be a Union of Free and Independent States.  We seem to have forgotten that fact, in truth we seem to have forgotten nearly everything about the founding of this Nation, including the abuses that were heaped on the People of the Colonies that led them to this separation, a separation that they could not guarantee would succeed, but it was worth the chance, as they so elegantly stated in the final sentence, “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.”  I know that within the borders of this Nation we still have lives and fortunes, but do we still have sacred honor?

Steve Avery

3/5/2012