The Birth of the United States of America

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

Skipping the introduction and going right to the preamble.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed … 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. "

Skipping the litany of complaints and justification, and going right to the concluding action...

"We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, ..., 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, ...; 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, ... we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

The fundamental policy specified in this first founding document consists of equal and unalienable rights, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - five concepts to be adhered to and maintained.

1. Justice: Every person has the right of equal treatment under the jurisdiction of this new country.

2. Unalienable: These rights cannot be denied to any person, not by the state, not by other persons.

3. Life: The right to Life, being equal and unalienable, cannot be denied by to any person, not by the state, nor by other persons.

4. Liberty: The right to liberty, being equal and undeniable, cannot be denied to any person, not by the state, not by other persons, subject only to the requirements of equal justice and the right to life. Liberty can not extend to denying equal treatment to others nor jeopardizing the life of others, nor denying equal justice to others.

5. Pursuit of Happiness: The right to pursue happiness can not be construed to include to deny others the right to pursue happiness, nor can it be construed to deny freedom of others, nor to jeopardize the life of others, nor to deny the justice of equal treatment to others.

The principle of equality entails reciprocity toward others, as is explicit in the concluding sentence, "we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor".

Equality under Honor and Law has been a feature of Common Law¹ for centuries, and goes back millennia to Hesiod (circa 700 BCE). Pledging our Lives is reciprocity and mutual defense. Pledging our Fortunes is reciprocity and contributing to commonwealth. Pledging our Honor is upholding the justice of equality and truth among us.

Without the Declaration of Independence there is no United States of America. This document is the first and foremost enabling document that our founding fathers labored long and hard for, and on the morning of the fourth of July, became the birth certificate of these United States of America.

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Notes

1. "The Constitution itself, as amended, explicitly includes common law.  In the absence of provisions in the Constitution, legislated law, subsequent case law, and state law, common law prior to the constitution holds, at least until such time as legislation or amendment changes it.  Common law goes back to the Magna Carta and other subsequent common law inherited by the colonies. Jus soli (where you were born) and jus sanguinis (who your parents were) determining nationality are part of that common law." - http://xenodochy.org/pod/cruznote.html
   
   
2. Moreover, the country was not starting devoid of laws.  We inherited the English common law, which would remain in force except as displaced by the constitution and the constitutions of the states until such time as legislators of the United States or of the states explicitly revised the common law or new cases otherwise changed it through court decisions.
   
   This requirement was made explicit in the Bill of Rights
   
   
• Amendment 7 - Trial by Jury in Civil Cases. Ratified 12/15/1791.
  "In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law."

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bibliography

1. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/its-core-declaration-independence-was-plea-help-britains-enemies-180963857/
2. https://allthingsliberty.com/2018/05/the-first-countries-to-diplomatically-recognize-the-united-states/

• Establishing full, formal recognition and diplomatic relations was (and still is) like choreographed dance steps between two countries …. [T]here are usually four ordered diplomatic steps:

  • Formal recognition
  • Treaties of amity and/or commerce (or equivalent)
  • Diplomatic relations
  • Consular relations

  But those steps can occur separately, concurrently with each other, or even out of order by decades ....
  

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Ralph E Kenyon Jr.
191 White Oaks Road
Williamstown, MA 01267
December 30, 2018, May 13, 2019