or as Lew Rockwell would say, Happy Overthrow-the-Government Day! On July 4th, we commemorate the overthrow of the government by our ancestors. That--despite neocon lies--is also the obvious meaning of the Declaration. We do not need to tolerate a long train of abuses and usurpations. Of course, for moral and practical reasons, our resistance must be peaceful. But we should also keep in mind the minimalist rule of George III as compared to the decidership of Bush. Here is a little "Declaration of Independence" music for your ears... 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. 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, 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. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within. He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies: For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends. 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. Interesting blog post from Tom DiLorenzo, America's Forgotten Declaration Posted by Thomas DiLorenzo at July 3, 2008 03:49 PM The Declaration of Independence, in which the American colonists declared their secession from the British empire, was "reinterpreted" for Americans, beginning with Lincoln, as an anti-secession document. The main ruse has always been to focus exclusively on the "all men are created equal" phrase (which Lincoln did not believe in, of course) at the exclusion of the rest of the Declaration. The last paragraph of the Declaration is arguably the most important. It speaks of "the united States of America" with a small "u" in "united," clearly signifying that the signatories of the document considered themselves to be citizens of thirteen free, independent, and sovereign states that were united in the cause of seceding from the British empire. Then there is this: "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." Virginia, Massachusetts, and the other colonies were considered to be independent countries with their own governments, just like the British state or the French state. As such, they were considered to be SOVEREIGN, which is why they were later able to delegate a few of their powers, mostly for foreign affairs, to a central government that was in theory supposed to serve as their agent and in their interest. When the King of England signed a peace treaty he named all of the individual states. That's who he waged war against, not something called "the United States government." In the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, the phrase "united states" is everywhere in the plural, further signifying this truth.
"The United States Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, announcing that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were no longer a part of the British Empire. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration was a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The birthday of the United States of America—Independence Day—is celebrated on July 4, the day the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress. Contrary to a once-common misconception, Congress did not sign the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The Declaration was first published as a printed broadside; the famous handwritten version was created after July 19, and was signed by most Congressional delegates on August 2. This copy, usually regarded as the Declaration of Independence, is now on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Although celebrated upon publication, the Declaration was initially neglected following the American Revolution. Its symbolic stature grew over the years, most notably through the influence of Abraham Lincoln, who viewed the Declaration as an ideal for which the nation should strive, especially as expressed in Jefferson's famous preamble: 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."
4th Jul marks the birth of the greatest Nation on earth. My congrats to all US citizens. Though I hope that you can share in the greatness of your forefathers in helping to grant independence to those lesser fortunate for eg Iraq, Palestine etc.
Happy independence day to all the TRUE American patriots and friends on DP! Don't forget that today is also a day of protest. If people were not to stand up to the ruling British we would not be where we are today.
Yes, Happy Independance Day! AND thank you for not calling it the Fourth of July! It seems that we hear more about the "fourth of July" celebrations these days than "Independance Day" - I think that a lot of the younger people may even forget what this day is all about.
Apparently you haven't been to Dearborn Michigan. No shortage of Iraqi flags waving in that community.
Iraq is independent. They gained that status and a new nation/government was born with the help of the US and her allies, ironically, the British. Even more ironic is that the US gained her independence from England with the help of the French. Had a great Fourth of July - hope you all did as well! Took the fam out for good food in Fontana and spent the evening on the shores of Geneva Lake in Fontana Bay watching the fireworks. Even more irony, I spent the day working on my British Car in my US garage. Most of that time was spent cursing in French! Happy Fourth!
No, Iraq is not independent. You have a flawed post-modern understanding of what liberty is. To some folks, liberty is democracy. Liberty is voting, and a government. Liberty is a black man not being a slave, or gay couples being allowed to marry. It's the right to choose your own religion, to start your own business, and to not be taxed without consent. Prof. Steve Horowitz puts it best here (emphasis is mine), I noticed this great comment from Gary North @ LRC,
You just described Iraq. 74 1/2 MGB.... I have some more modern pics around somewhere. This was a year ago.