The Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence is an amazing document. The primary author was 33-year-old Thomas Jefferson. On July 4, 1776, fifty-six men signed the document in Philadelphia.

At the time, George Washington was in New York organizing an army. It was more than a year after fighting between colonists and the British army started in Boston. With apologies to Clint Eastwood, after 247 years, we can now honestly say that the Declaration of Independence is good, bad, and ugly.

The Good

There are many good things about the Declaration of Independence. So many that books have been written and thousands of Fourth of July speeches given about them. As we look forward to becoming a United States without racism, three things stand out as very good.

First, the language of rights is general, so it can and has been used in different historical periods and contexts. This is possible because language such as one people, Nature's God, man, Right of the People, Guards, and Supreme Judge have imprecise definitions in the document. So, speech writers who have been assigned the Fourth of July can easily find a theme and a text to meet the need. More than that, the document can and has stirred emotions rooted in the life experiences of millions. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a master at using words and phrases from the Declaration to connect with his agendas of equity and civil rights. In his most famous speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, he called the Declaration "a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men – yes, Black men as well as white men – would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

This ambiguity is good because today, as Americans look for a language to describe a multicultural nation without racism, the Declaration of Independence has language that can connect people who have a strong emotional attachment to the past with those who desire a different future.

A second good thing about the Declaration is that Jefferson took a commonly known phrase from the writings of John Locke and modified it. Locke had a mantra that "man" has a right to "life, liberty, and estate." By estate Locke meant a role in life that you inherited. It assumes a society where there is no social mobility. Jefferson changed the word estate to "pursuit of happiness." Good job, Tom.

This is good because racism sets up barriers that keep people from pursuing their personal aspirations and happiness. A commitment to everyone being able to pursue their own dreams is critical in ending racism.

Third, the Declaration does not specifically use the words "rule of law," but it is hard to miss that it talks about it. The complaint section of the Declaration is often overlooked because it lists grievances specific to the colonists' experience in 1776. However, a careful reading shows that many of their complaints were about the arbitrary way laws were made and enforced. In short, they desired to have a government that made fair laws that were evenly enforced. The Declaration makes it clear that being independent of Great Britain would make it possible for them to establish the "rule of law."

It is good for us to remember that the foundation of the United States of America is a commitment to the rule of law. Since 1776, we have struggled to ensure that good laws are made and that those laws are enforced in an equitable way. The failure to have equal protection of the law, an essential component of the rule of law, was exposed by the Black Lives Matter movement. It is good that the Declaration is based on a commitment to the rule of law. A multicultural nation will only function with equity if there is attention to ensuring the rule of law.

The Bad

Most of the bad in the Declaration is because Jefferson and the others were imprisoned by the perspective that wealthy British men are more qualified to govern than others. They wanted to set up their own government where people who owned property could make laws for everyone. And they desired to have as little government as possible. This was not conscious or strategic greedy self-interest. They believed they were the most qualified to take care of the government and the needs of the general population. Most of the 56 men who signed the Declaration saw government as a responsibility they were willing to accept.

If we investigate what they understood by the word "people" when Jefferson wrote, "Rights of the People," we discover that they do not include all human beings or even all inhabitants of the colonies.

The Declaration does not clarify what alternative they see for a form of government. The word Republic is not mentioned, which is the form they adopted. Later it became clear when they worked on writing a Constitution that they were not declaring independence so they could establish a democracy.

As the scholars who gave us critical race theory help us understand, honestly telling and evaluating our history is essential in overcoming the past to create a multicultural nation without racism.

The Ugly

The ugly is the bad taken to the extreme. The ugly in the Declaration is the place of women, enslaved people, and Native Americans in the minds of the 56 signers.

Since 1776 the word “man” has been expanded in some situations to include all people, both men and women. But Jefferson used man to mean men and to exclude women. The ugly commitment to sexism is a battle that is still being fought. And overcoming sexism is essential in ending racism.

Jefferson is said to have included a complaint in his first draft that the British imposed the institution of slavery on the colonies. This was removed from the final draft. It appears that the founders decided during the discussion about the Declaration that they would not address the issue of slavery. The same spirit of support for and toleration of slavery continued for decades. The heritage of slavery impacts America today and is the foundation of racism.

The Declaration complains that the British have "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." To this is added the objection that the colonists are "incapable of Annihilation," so they are "exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without." To be clear, the Declaration is extremely ugly on this point. It justifies independence from Britain so that European colonists can practice genocide on the Native population in North America. The 56 white men who signed the Declaration set what became the United States of America on a course that can only be called evil. And becoming a multicultural nation will require serious efforts to repent and repair the consequences of the treatment of Native Americans so that they become full participants in and contributors to a multicultural nation.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Fourth of July holiday is often seen as a time for feasting and celebrating. Considering the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Declaration of Independence calls us to make the Fourth of July holiday a time for remembering and reflecting.

It is also a time to be inspired by the 56 men who took bold action and "mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor" to create the future.

Would that we might have the same courage to commit to creating a multicultural nation without racism.