Would You Have Signed The Declaration Of Independence?

There may be some who will not sign this document, citing as reasons that they have too much money and property to lose should our efforts falter. They are too strongly tethered to King George III. Some question our God-given right to determine our own destiny. To quote Thomas Paine of Pennsylvania: “I have heard some men say that they dreaded an independence, as it would produce civil wars…there is ten times more dread from a patched up connexion than from independence.” I say these people are too short sighted to see beyond their own ledger books. To risk nothing is to risk losing everything.
After much debate, nearly 500 words have been pared from this Declaration. Entire paragraphs have been eliminated. There are words and phrases in it that are unique in the history of state documents. Where else can one ever read of the laws of nature and nature’s God? These “certain unalienable rights,” to quote Mr. Jefferson, are bestowed upon us by God, not some inherited crown.
Are we justified in our actions? From this humble trader’s point of view, we certainly are. The political bonds holding us to England are tenuous at best. They can no more effectively rule us across the ocean than an African lion could board a steamer to feed in France. Natural Law impels us to do what is right. We desire to be on an equal footing with our Mother country, complete with our own set of rules and moral consensus.
The gulf between America and Great Britain is much more than a political or geographical difference. It has to do with a moral and social contract with the peoples of America to uphold those rights set forth in this Declaration. These rights cannot be blocked, removed or taken away from us by anyone other than the Creator. They are an inherent grant that ensues from that God and not from any government or its minions. Power, in the form of government, is derived by the people and given by consent of said people, on the constraint that such power is freely given. In regards to that power, be it known that it is thus limited by such means as a contract between the government and the governed.
We in the past have been subject to various assaults upon our Nation, among them The Navigation Acts, The Townshend Acts, The Stamp Act, The Intolerable Acts, The Coercive Acts, restrictions on free trade, abolishment of our legislatures and suspension of our laws. If this were not bad enough, the passage of the Quebec Act has even taken our ability to govern ourselves out of our hands. The very fact that we ask for but do not receive proper representation in Parliament is a grievance with which we can no longer abide. Our repeated petitions for redress of grievances have also been allowed to whither and die of neglect.
Citizen Thomas Paine of Pennsylvania, an Englishman, has vividly outlined our cause for liberty. Even our kin in England are beginning to recognize the great need we have for independence. Richard Henry Lee of Virginia made it even plainer when he stated in June of this year: “Why then sir, why do we longer delay? Why still debate? Let us this happy day give birth to an American Republic.”
I can state my case no better than that. As such, it is with a enthusiasm in my heart and a bright countenance to my spirit that I take up a quill and gladly sign this Declaration of Independence.Click Here to Learn More About Signing the Declaration of Independence