--Benjamin Franklin Gates (National Treasure)
All discoveries
occur inside of a particular age. However, some discoveries yield truths that
are not relative. Instead, these truths endure various ages.
It was during the Enlightenment that many people for the
first time discovered the self-evident (i.e., requiring no elaborate proof) truth
that the proper state of man is to live freely, unencumbered by violent
intervention from others. Prior to
this period, it was broadly accepted that people must live under a system of
forceful government.
What makes the Framers remarkable is that they sought to implement a system that reflected the new-found truth on a large scale. These people were truly radicals, seeking to throw off tyranny and build something heretofore unheard of.
What makes the Framers remarkable is that they sought to implement a system that reflected the new-found truth on a large scale. These people were truly radicals, seeking to throw off tyranny and build something heretofore unheard of.
Did they design it perfectly out of the
gate? No. Did they always practice what they preached? No.
But their imperfect practice has no bearing on the validity of the underlying truth itself. More likely, it helps explain why liberty has been so difficult to achieve.
Indeed, more than two centuries after the Declaration was written, the world largely remains skeptical that Jefferson’s truths are in fact durable (‘inalienable’). That man’s natural state is one of freedom rather than of submission remains a radical concept to this day.
But their imperfect practice has no bearing on the validity of the underlying truth itself. More likely, it helps explain why liberty has been so difficult to achieve.
Indeed, more than two centuries after the Declaration was written, the world largely remains skeptical that Jefferson’s truths are in fact durable (‘inalienable’). That man’s natural state is one of freedom rather than of submission remains a radical concept to this day.
The debate that is being carried out in real time involves whether liberty truly is an inalienable right.
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Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing.
~Albert Einstein
The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.
~John Adams
note:
7/2/1776-legal separation from Great Britain
7/4/1776-Declaration of Independence approved
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