What the Declaration Declares

The source of legitimate authority is God, not man. This is the core truth declared in the American Declaration of Independence that makes it a transcendent proclamation for all men, for all time. Recognizing this truth renders abhorrent human authority assumed without the consent of those under its direction, as well as authority administered arbitrarily, indifferent to the God-given dignity of each and every individual.

Those who reject the notion of God, or of the supremacy of eternal truths over relative perceptions of reality, reject the Declaration. Indeed its authors cited the Almighty in four instances: “Nature’s God,” “their Creator,” ”Supreme Judge of the World,” and “Divine Providence.” For many in modern society, this is an unpalatable understanding of the Declaration. Therein lays the key to the anemic state of American liberty today.

A self-governing people who have lost sight of their Creator as the source of true authority will no longer look to themselves as the agents primarily responsible for their own welfare, but to that which most conspicuously claims the guise of authority: government. And government that has lost a genuine fear of the Supreme Judge of the World will not long tolerate limits placed on its authority; inevitably devolving into the very affront to human dignity the Declaration was authored to denounce: tyranny.

For those perplexed by intensifying objections to the current trajectory of government in America, reflecting on this may provide some insight.

Addendum: After having composed the above, we were enlightened by our dear friend, Mr. Jonah Goldberg, to what he considers, "just about the best thing ever written for or about Independence Day, save the Declaration itself." After reading it we quite agree and are pleased to learn that the thoughts of President Calvin Coolidge, some 84 years ago, so closely correspond to our own. Enjoy! Calvin Coolidge on the American Declaration of Independence.

A most heartfelt Happy Birthday America to you all!

Cheers,

Charlie

The Hard Price of Liberty

In these times when so many throughout the Anglosphere appear committed to relinquishing their liberty for social welfare goodies, we do well to recount the price paid by those who won that liberty for us in the first place.

Here, on the occassion of the 233rd signing of the American Declaration of Independence, is one such recounting. (Beak tip to Mark Block of Americans for Prosperity).
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Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of theRevolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.

Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.
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Something to ponder. Something to share. As we line up for our federal "freebies", what exactly are we providing in exchange? The 56 signers of the Declaration just might have something to say about that.

Cheers,

Charlie

A Declaration for One and All

“We must never cease to proclaim in fearless tones the great principles of freedom and the rights of man which are the joint inheritance of the English-speaking world and which through Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, the Habeas Corpus, trial by jury, and the English common law find their most famous expression in the American Declaration of Independence.”

- Sir Winston Churchill - March 5, 1946

If you remember nothing else, remember this: “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.” Happy birthday America!

Cheers,

Charlie

A Manifesto for Unilateralist Cowboys

“We must never cease to proclaim in fearless tones the great principles of freedom and the rights of man which are the joint inheritance of the English-speaking world and which through Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, the Habeas Corpus, trial by jury, and the English common law find their most famous expression in the American Declaration of Independence.”
- Sir Winston Churchill - March 5, 1946

If you remember nothing else, remember this: “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.”

Happy birthday America!

Cheers,

Charlie