A Declaration to the World

                                                The Declaration of Independence was signed on this day of July 4th in the year 1776. The British Empire had treated the American Colonies as little more than mere servants, whose sole purpose was to obey, and to be commanded. The colonists of course had a very different view of this arrangement, and thus proclaimed their independence from the British Crown, in so doing there was a much broader statement made to the world. The declaration was a statement to mankind as a whole, it was a statement to all men that it is divine to be free, that in nature or Nature's god, that it is natural for all men to be born free and equal. As Thomas Jefferson put these ideas to paper, it is not that he himself created these ideas, but more importantly, combined at once in thought these ideas. There were changes made to Jefferson's original draft ( changes Jefferson felt " Mangled" his work ) but the embodiment, the soul of the declaration was nothing less than the work of Thomas Jefferson.
                                                                Reading the declaration today brings strong emotions to ones heart, and for a document that was written 235 years ago I would suggest that itself is a testament to how powerful a statement the declaration was even at the time of it's writing, it would also indicate, I would add to the passion of not just Jefferson, but John Adams, Ben Franklin, and the other signatories of that document, not to mention the conviction those men had upon signing that document, for once there name was penned to paper it was an outright act of treason against the crown, to be punished by death ( by hanging ) which would most have certainly been done for public display as a message to others.
                                                                 The secret to it's success to me has always been key phrases that were the embodiment of the declaration, timeless phrases such as " We hold these truths to be self evident"  imagine the power of that statement alone. Saying to the world " well of course we are free, it's as natural as sunshine is to daytime " or " by what right does a King govern over me, after all we are all born of equal station at birth " ! Radical ideas for the time, radical ideas even today. The philosophy of a sovereign individual in contemporary America is quite foreign  to citizens of our country  as a concept today, consider that our present government mandates everything from wages to light bulbs, to how many gallons of water our toilets can flush. Cannot that kind of control over a people be a contradiction to Jefferson's notion of " among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the description Jefferson gave of unalienable rights ?
                                                                        It is their right, it is their duty,  was Jefferson's way to say to all people who inhabit this globe that as children of God we all have a responsibility to throw of the chains of tyranny when we see them. It is an axiomatic statement for all time, for all people. It is imperative to take the time to know what is an improper form of governance against a free people, and to alter or abolish that form of government when necessary to " Secure these rights ". Continuing with Jefferson's thoughts " And to provide new guards for their future security "  was to point out that thinking forward as we establish a society of freedom we are obligated to consider how to maintain  such a society of liberty and prosperity, so that those ideas of freedom will become timeless.
                                                                      Make no mistake, freedom is divine. Jefferson himself made this clear to all when he penned " and for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine providence "  he was indeed referencing God and the desire of the creator for all his children to be free. There should be no doubt that Mr. Jefferson who had read John Locke, Barlamaqui, and Vattel was influenced by the enlightenment and the writers and philosphers espousing the enlightenment, but the very soul of all of the culmination of his readings was that Divinity, God almighy himself reigned over man, and that in nature man is to be free.
                                                                      The Declaration of Independence called for the seperation of the colonies from Britain, that act was in defiance to the crown, and would be seen as cause for war. It was a calculated move on the part of the founders, who would go on to  fight a revolution, and form a country to be known as " the United States of America "  a republic to be founded on the idea of a sovereign individual, who would have the right to life, liberty, and property. A society where one could worship god as they individually saw fit to do, to live their lives without coercion. It was a declaration to the world, a declaration to the world for a world of liberty.


for further reading on this check out these links:




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence



http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/freedom/doi/text.html