Does the government live up to the principles set down in the 1776
Declaration of Independence? One argument says that the Constitution was a
setback from the Declaration of Independence. Others say that the
Constitution is not lived up to either. Many times it is supposed that if
the government upheld the Declaration of Independence, there would be real
democracy.
The Declaration consists of political philosophy and a list of
grievances against the King of England. In terms of political philosophy
it puts forward ideas common in England and the colonies following the
English revolution of 1688. The main argument is contained in two lines
after the Preamble: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men
are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
inalienable 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."
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as rights which government
secures sound like they could have broad meaning. In fact, they have very
specific content. The same or similar words appear in many different
philosophical writings and other colonial declarations. Just two years
before the Declaration, the Continental Congress declared that colonists
were entitled to "life, liberty and property." This same formulation also
appears in different colonial proclamations and then later in the Fifth
and Fourteenth amendments to the Constitution.
John Locke, the philosopher who is widely agreed to have had the
biggest influence on the philosophy of the Declaration, wrote that
"government has no other end but the preservation of property," where
property was defined as including "life, liberty and estate." Other
formulations of the purpose of government at the time say that it is to
ensure the "happiness" of the governed. The "pursuit of happiness" is also
derived from Locke and was supposed to be a "natural" right. Happiness was
sometimes spok en of as ease or pleasure, but derives from when something
positive "haps" or happens, usually to an individual. Happiness was seen
as the foundation of all liberty. A government that promoted pursuit of
happiness, promoted an individual's drive toward ease or pleasure, or
profit.
Many references could be given to show that liberty, happiness and
property were often used interchangeably. This reflected the strengthening
and development of capitalism as a system. Most of the thinkers on both
sides of the Atlantic were working to justify the developing system as
"natural," in opposition to the feudal divine right of kings. They were
working out the best way for the system to be governed, so as to insure
the rule of their "natural aristocracy."
The power of the capitalist class was already established in the
governing of Great Britain and the Colonies. There was no philosophical
difference over the question of whether Capital should rule. For the
colonies, the grievance was that they did not have control over taxes
collected, trade and the exploitation of the rest of the continent.
There were no workers, no women, no Blacks and no native people
represented when the Declaration of Independence was approved. The
representatives were the wealthiest people in the Colonies, who owned the
land and the newly emerging means of production. Many were lawyers. They
had power by virtue of their property and wealth, but were unable to
govern to further their profits and interests or "happiness" still more
since they were subjects of the British Empire.
In addition to consolidating their rule by declaring that they would
have their own government, the founding fathers were also declaring that
they would have their own empire and that it would be their right to steal
the land of the native people and conquer them. This was made more
explicit later as "Manifest Destiny."
In the beginning, the "consent of the governed" consisted of the votes
of the property owners. That is, those who voted were of the same class as
those who ruled and governed. Over time, the vote has been extended to
workers, Blacks, women and those 18 years and older. What hasn't changed,
however, is that the rule is still of property, or more properly today,
monopoly capital, and that the government consists of the representatives
of this ruling class who rule over their modern day empire to ensure their
continued profit and "happiness."
The current system of government is based on and lives up to the
Declaration of Independence, but this system is out of date. What is
needed is to modernize our definition of rights and fight for a system
that guarantees those rights.
Shawgi Tell
University at Buffalo
Graduate School of Education
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
