Constitutional studies; a primer.

Let's begin with the " Declaration of Independence", and appropriately with the opening statement.

" When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to disolve the political bands which have conected them to another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal stations to which the laws of nature and of natures God entitle them, a decent respect for the opinions of mankind require that they declare the causes which impel them to the separation..." .
Before we can rightly anylyze this subject,we must first understand what the founders belived to be the origins of human rights. The founders believed that it was "self evident.." that people were all possesive of individual "rights" or freedoms as human beings. They believed as do I that we are all born with these rights as a gift (or endowment) from the Creator.
Careful study of history will show that the resurgence of the Britsh crown to enforce commerce restrictions such as the "navigation Acts" encroached upon several of these rights such as the right to private property (i.e. income) and the pursuit of happiness, as the founders (looking through history) and many colonists saw it. Certainly,in their own time, the end of the French&Indian war brought about even more examples of British taxation without representation adding fuel to the already smoldering fire.
Here we have evidence in the precedeing paragraph that the founders were reacting to what was percieved as an overreaching of authority of the crown over their rights to enter into the world of trade and commerce under the rules and laws that they as a free and idependent people would create for themselves that they felt they should have the right to undertake. Even though at the time, the colonies were not technically free and clear of British rule, many colonists and certainly the founders felt as though they were largely independent of the crown. For appoximately 150 years prior there was little to no interference by the mother country in the daily affiars and commerce of colonial life. This set a precedence in the minds of just enough of our citizenry to see that this new found ambition of Britain to take control of the colonies meant that they could eventually lose their ability to be self governing. This opened the door to tyrannical rulers law.
In the opening paragraph of the declaration, Thomas Jefferson first states that some kind of breach of trust and confidence exists between the rulers and the ruled. And, as such is putting the British monarchy as well as the world on notice that a seperation of interests and political ties is now needed to prevent any further disruptions and hardships between the two "peoples". He also implicitly states that we as an independent group of people,a nation state in our own right, have now declared that we will take on the task of governing our own affairs and provide for our own needs as a people ( .." and to assume among the powers of the earth...."). Further introspection will reveal that the language of the first paragraph indicates that the rights we seek to employ are rights that all freemen posses and that we as freemen are infact entitled to these rights by natural law( see Marcus Tullius Cicero) and Gods law (..."the law of nature and of natures God..." )Thereby nullifying the "right" of a single ruler or governing body to bestow or retract these rights from us seeing as that they did not come from any living person embodied on this earth but from a greater and immutable power.
This passage also indicates that insofar as the founders see the truth the only "right" that the British monarchy had to govern if it existed would have to have come from somewhere. And if they claimed to have the right to rule then from where did it come? The answer seems to lie in the passage that states ..."and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and EQUAL STATION..."
This implies that the right of the British crown to rule was usurped by them from nature and natures God and was enFORCEable only through force itself and not by common interest and reason toward the preservation of the good.
The founders therefore reasoned that if the British could enshrine themselves with the power to govern others, since it could not be in anyway proved that they actually retianed that right other than through force,that they, the founders and more importantly the PEOPLE who are governed have an equal station or position in the grand scheme of things and therefore just as much right to self rule and to employ their own rights as does anyone else who is bold enough to assert themselves and command the responsibilities and respect that go along with those rights. So, with this was born the idea that America as a nation state would simply take back what were their rights in the first place and return the world to its natural condition for the first time in human history.
Lets look at the next declarative statement " 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..." This section is actually the meat in the middle of the sandwich. With these words the framers, through Jeffersons eloquent authorship, describe the actual reasoning or logic behind the whole impetus of the now treasonuos act soon to be before their king. It would seem that Jefferson wanted to convey the raw emotion behind the logic so as to endear as many of his fellow countrymen to the cause as was possible and with this document he did indeed manage to win over just the right amount of support ( he and many others) as history has now shown. Notice the particular wording which he chose; TRUTHS to be SELF EVIDENT; Thus, making it a statement which one would be hard pressed to explian away as only an opinion or idea. He wanted to convey the common sense nature of the argument before the world and dispell the premiss that only the king could make proclomations of "truth" and law. The declaration states that " ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL and are ENDOWED by their CREATOR with certain unalienable RIGHTS...." One can hardly read this document or many of the writings of the founders without noticing the blatent and liberal use or terms such as created/creator/divine providence,etc. all grounding the notion that God or a supreme being/creator of the universe was responsible for the very existance of mankind and the natural laws that are imutable under which we all live, athiest and spiritual persons alike. The framers based their ideals in common sense,reason and an understanding that rights come from a higher power. Giving a political party, king or any other govornor the ability to grant rights automaticaly gives them the right to remove and restrict rights by the power of fiat. The founders knew that this would always lead to either tyranny or anarchy becuase of the nature of human beings,especially those who gravitate toward powerful positions. They therefore wanted to ensure that to stay away from either extreme, they must set the course of our government square in the middle of the two giving the lions share of the power to the people of society who must live under the laws and to limit the power of any kind of central government with a constitution and checks and balances to prevent a usurpation of the free peoples power. He also says" ...AMONG these.." (meaning including but not limited to ) are LIFE,LIBERTY and the PURSUIT (not garantee) of HAPPINESS". They saw life as precious and wanted to build a system of government that would help people become the best they could be, not by giving them stuff or money, but by staying out of their way and leaving them free to dream to create to explore and to set up value for value trade and commerce, based in an also free economic system. Moving along to the third section...."That to secure these right, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.That when any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it ,and institute a new one,laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such fashion, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness...." This section tells us yet again that rights are inherent and that govenments role is to protect such rights not to bestowe them. Infact, it tells us that this is so important a point that our declaration tells us we have every right to demand and ensure by whatever means, that these principles be follwed explicitly or a new system should be put into place. This author believes that what the founders meant was that any system of government that does not adhere to the SPIRIT of the original constitution(the declaration) and the letter of the actual constitution , that that system is the usurper of the intent of the original constituion and the original system should be the replacement system such as a defualt re-set on your computer to its original mode of operation. Also notice in this passage the use of specific words such as foundation and principles. The online dictionary called "yourdictionary.com" http://www.yourdictionary.com/ defines those words in part,thusly...
foundation Definition
foun·da·tion -noun
a founding or being founded; establishment
the base on which something rests;
the fundamental principle on which something is founded; basis
prin·ci·ple-noun the ultimate source, origin, or cause of something
a natural or original tendency, faculty, or endowment
a fundamental truth, law, doctrine, or motivating force, upon which others are based moral principles a rule of conduct, ..... To be continued below in next text module...

In keeping with the flow from the first module, it is important to note that when one speaks of principles it is generally acknowleded that a principle is a natural law, an unchanging truth not somthing that is in flux or ambiguos. Principles do not change,they are like an anchor point in reality. Policies and ideas are not the same as principles which exist. Wether you or I think they do or not does not change them,does not change the natural truth.
In the next section, we see the concern that the founders had for the rule of law and the admonition not to take lightly the expulsion of an entire governmental system and placing in jeopardy of an entire populace for trivial reasons. "...Prudence indeed will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light or transient causes..."
The act of separating from the Mother Country was going to be long, gruesome and tedious, requiring incredible sacrifice on the part of so many,but the framers knew that this was something that needed to be done. They believed in a manifest destiny of providential nature. They knew that there was a better way for mankind to live and knew that if they could be succesful that ALL of mankind would eventually live under greater freedoms and thrive in a more prosperous and safer more stable world.
In the next section, the Declaration states..." ;and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind is more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable,than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.." This passage is at once, a simple statement of truth and also a warning. It is a warning to both the People and the Crown. It warns the People to both beware of creeping complacency by which the trouble begins, and to also weigh the options before them so as not to bemoan the more trivial matters before them and acknowledges the difference between things worth starting a revolution over and those that can be handled as a matter of course via regular political channels such as free elections and redress of grievences through the courts if neccessary. The final word of warning intimates that the road of abolition is not a first step but a last resort and comes with a heavy price tag indeed.
We come next to the section of this great document where Jefferson states in no uncertain terms the sense of the framers and their fellow countrymen who backed this push for independence. ( by most accounts, the numbers of citizens that were in this camp were about one third of the populace. About one third did not want a seperation from the Crown. It is also important to note that those opposed to separation were largely wealthy persons or politically connected and did not want to upset their own apple cart so to speak,since life for them was good and they retained "rights' or priviledge that most others did not enjoy. The remaining folks didn't have an opinion one way or the other.) This meant that the founders had a pretty even split among the population and as history would bear, the requisite numbers to move forward with the plan to separate from the British Monarchy and form our independent nation. These are the words with which Jefferson sparked the beginnings of a revolution that would forever change the slate of history. ...." But when a long train of abuses and usurpations,pursuing invariably the same object,evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism,[despotism: noun; A form of government whereby the use or threat of violence and punishment are the means and domminance the goal] it is their right,it is their duty to throw off such government and create new guards for their future security--Such has been the patient sufference of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government."
As much as I would love to expound on this section in an eloquent fashion, and somehow add somthing of value here, I feel as though it is rather self explanitory and of such a substance that I feel I can not do more except to say this is the fork in the road where one must ask and answer the question as to how they want to live and what cost are they willing to pay for the value of their life? Do you want to live for the sake of breathing no matter what forms of bondage you may be subject to? Or, does one wish to place the value of their life and property in its proper perspective and live free and happy, even if it means that death is the ultimate price for that freedom and happiness so long as one has lived free? For what has one gained in the act of living for the sake of another at the DEMAND of that person or persons and reducing the value of ones own life and the lives of their loved ones at the whim and pleasure of some overlord who has not your best interest at heart? This does not mean that sacrifice for another at the pleasure or sanction of the person granting that sacrifice of their own volition is even in the same category. No, to the contrary, that is the wish or will of the person giving that sacrifice. The excersise of free will is entirely in keeping with all principles of freedom and to that extent free will is entirely what this document and the entire revolution was about in its purest form. This document enshrines in the individual as does the Constitution, the value of their own life and purpose. If all people are created equal under natural law, then how does any person or government rightfully devalue one person to the benefit of another without the consent of the person from whom the sacrifice is demanded? No one has the right to demand of you anything of your person and property beyond that which you properly and rightfully owe according to what you ask from others on your behalf. In other words, only an equal value for value trade can be demanded and all other circumstances can only of right warrant no more than a request.
The next section of the declaration is what I call the grievence section. In this section,which is too lengthy to reprint here without getting too long winded, explains all of the violations against the people. I would encourage you to look it up as a read along guide though. After reading this section, the modern paralells of despotic actions,which there are many,will become eerily familiar. Though not a direct comparison on all counts, it does help to reflect the looming potential that unchecked powers have to undermine and usurp the rights of the people. I will say that there are certain aspects such as the grievence surrounding excessive public offices......"He[King George]has erected a multitude of new offices and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people,and eat out their substance". Modern day Government has certainly followed suit in the way of creating an untold number of public offices,each of which does "eat out our substance" through direct taxation in support of their existance and purported purpose and harass us via regulatory demands. Also, indirect taxation via regulatory fees and fines.

The Last section of the Declaration it states the following: "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."
In closing of this first part of our study, the only thing to which I would like to draw attention to the most is the total dedication to which the founders and all others involved with the separation acts,gave to this cause. In truth, a number of the founders and framers( the people involed to somewhat lesser degrees in the actual drafting of the founding documents) did indeed give of themselves in whole or in part variable degrees of their pledge to each other of their lives,fourtunes and sacred honer. This is the degree to which freemen must be willing to concede to for gaining or maintining their freedoms. For as Ben Franklin did say, "We must all hang together or most assuredly, we shall all hang separately".
A few words from Jefferson himself on the declaration...
"I did not consider it as any part of my charge to invent
new ideas altogether, [or] to offer no sentiment which had
ever been expressed before. . . . [T]he object of the
Declaration of Independence [was] not to find out new
principles, or new arguments, never before thought of, [or]
to say things which had never been said before; but to place
before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms
so plain and firm as to command their assent, and to justify
ourselves in the independent stand we are compelled to
take. [Not] aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, .
. . it was intended to be an expression of the American
mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and
spirit called for by the occasion. All its authority rests then
on the harmonizing sentiments of the day . . ."

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Now that we have taken a look at the Declaration of Independence, let's move on to having a look at some important distinctions which must be drawn when considering how our current political scene contrasts with the intent of the original idea of American Government:
First up, the notion that government has to be complicated. This of course is an idea that perhaps most people have devloped by watching the spectacle that modern politicians and lawyers make of the carrying out of the daily political and legal events we all have seen played out on our nations tvs' and newspapers and radio to a lesser degree.The Founders of these United States and it original governmental charters, the Articles of Confederation,then superceded by the Constitutuion, made them [the governing documents] relatively easy to understand and as short as possible. They knew that any Constitution that was not understandable or straight forward enough for the average person to grasp was no constitution at all. If you are governed by laws that you can not understand or need a law degree to decipher, you are at that point a kept citizen by definition. Any set of laws so ambiguos as to confuse and obscure the intent of that law is somthing of which can not be trusted. One can not have confidence in their security, property or business dealings if laws are constantly in flux or uninterpetable by average knowledege and intelligence. It was then,is now and ever shall be that a simple set of natural,common and just laws,giving deference to the individual, are the only time tested and proven method of ensuring the prospect of freedoms and basic human rights. With this however, follows that all free people live individually of their own volition, just and virtuos lives,For as Patrick henry stated...."Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles." How therefore can one expect anything of good to come from anyone who in their own lives practices vice more than virtue, is more bad or corupt than good and honest? We the people
therefore are the last line of defense between freedom and tyranny of any sort, but it starts with each of us first. Obviously,no one can be 100% good 100% of the time, that would be the first time in human history (other than Jesus Christ )were that to occur. But,one can strive on a daily basis to the best of their abilities to be good and reach their fullest potential. That is something we all have within us to do (all things being equal,such as lack of mental illness.) Every day we have multitudes of choices to make. Make the right ones and you accomplish your goal of doing the right thing ,make the wrong ones and you realize set backs and worse. This is not to dismiss John Adams when he said.."A free government is a complicated piece of machinery,the nice and exact adjustments of whose springs,wheels and weights,is not yet well comprehended by the artists of the age and still less by the people". I believe that what he was saying is not that the substance of government is or must be complex, but that the balance of power was a complex act. To ensure that the government not be too weak or too powerful at any given time is a complex issue. That is where living according to truth,virtue, and common sense,acknowledgeing equal rights to all people come into play to ensure that balance exists. That no persons or group of persons can detract from or deprive of any individuals basic human rights except through due process on conviction of a crime.That is where it can be complex, in the constant revision of basic human rights,and ensuring we as a nation and as individuals, stay firmly fixed on the path of liberty and not allow ourselves to be swayed in anti-individual liberty directions. Benjamin Franklin actually made a "list of things to live by" or what he called the 13 virtues. He had a daily check list and every day would check his thoughts and actions against his list to see if he was meeting his prescribed self obligations. This is one of those ideas that I believe we all could learn from. I my self am starting to develop my own personal list.

Next I would like to devote a minute to addressing the topic that many have raised before that questions the sincereity of the founding fathers on the topic of slavery. Many people,including myself, have been interested in the truth about this topic. The truth can be found in the words and actions of the founding fathers and many of the signers of the declaration of independence.The best " at a glance" page I have found in regards to this topic is:
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-wall/wal-g003.html
I have inserted a hyper link to this page below and I highly recomend your taking a few minutes to look it over. The information contained in that link is in keeping with other sources I have referenced over the years.