Peaceful Rebellion, p. 5
Dublin Core
Title
Peaceful Rebellion, p. 5
Description
“What is it we celebrate on the Fourth of July that makes us unique among men? It is the celebration of our nationhood? Yes, but Russia, China, Cuba, Chile, South Africa and other totalitarian nations also have have days for celebrating their nationhood.
So the mere fact of our 1776 unilateral Declaration of Independence from British rule which led to nationhood is nothing to brag about.
The truly unique feature of our celebration is the triumphant emergence of an idea. An idea expressed in our Declaration of Independence as follows: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The Declaration of Independence and later the Bill of Rights are really expressions of the liberal philosophy of thinkers like Locke and Hume. It is an expression of natural law which hold that men own themselves, are autonomous, and that the state exists to prevent one man from violating the rights of another.
Unfortunately our Founding Fathers did not give full meaning to the philosophy of natural law. There were some conspicuous violations such as slavery and the failure to give the full franchise to women.
Despite these shortcoming our Founding Fathers planted the seeds for freedom as they had never been before in the history of man. Indeed, these seeds made it possible for blacks and women to eventually enjoy the fruits of freedom.
Both the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights are strong and statements for autonomy of individual, NOT the other way around as suggested by expressions like: obligations to society or duty to government.
For several decades individualism has been under attack. We’re told by college professors, preachers and politicians that society and community must be served and that individualism represents selfishness.
This is a psychological design for the growth and power of the state. People with a strong disposition toward individual liberty will always see the state as a threat.
When the Founders said, “All men are equal,” what did they mean? Did they mean Congress should take some of your income in order to make mine equal to yours? Or did they mean that Congress should mandate quotas to insure men are equally represented by race?
Perhaps they meant Congress should confiscate the income of young people and give it to older people in the name of equality.
None of these perversions of the principle of equality among men were expressed by the Founders. What they meant is that all men should be treated equally before the law. Indeed equality that can be achieved without destroying freedom.
If government takes your earnings, in the attempt to equalize our incomes, it doesn’t treat us equally i.e., you don’t have rights to my property. When the law allows unions to block entrances and commit acts of violence yet jails the ordinary citizen if he does the same, it’s not treating us equally.
Restrictions on freedom and inequality before the law is typical history. What’s rare is the amount of freedom we now enjoy. All of man’s history is mostly one of arbitrary control and abuse by government.
In those rare instances where a free people lost that freedom, they seldom lost it all at once. They lost it as we are doing - by all degrees. Congress violates privacy. More and more laws are written governing our relations with our fellow man, and government favoritism is on the rise.
The theme for this year’s Fourth of July celebration should be rebellion against government encroachment on our freedom, while we are still able to rebel without guns.”
So the mere fact of our 1776 unilateral Declaration of Independence from British rule which led to nationhood is nothing to brag about.
The truly unique feature of our celebration is the triumphant emergence of an idea. An idea expressed in our Declaration of Independence as follows: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The Declaration of Independence and later the Bill of Rights are really expressions of the liberal philosophy of thinkers like Locke and Hume. It is an expression of natural law which hold that men own themselves, are autonomous, and that the state exists to prevent one man from violating the rights of another.
Unfortunately our Founding Fathers did not give full meaning to the philosophy of natural law. There were some conspicuous violations such as slavery and the failure to give the full franchise to women.
Despite these shortcoming our Founding Fathers planted the seeds for freedom as they had never been before in the history of man. Indeed, these seeds made it possible for blacks and women to eventually enjoy the fruits of freedom.
Both the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights are strong and statements for autonomy of individual, NOT the other way around as suggested by expressions like: obligations to society or duty to government.
For several decades individualism has been under attack. We’re told by college professors, preachers and politicians that society and community must be served and that individualism represents selfishness.
This is a psychological design for the growth and power of the state. People with a strong disposition toward individual liberty will always see the state as a threat.
When the Founders said, “All men are equal,” what did they mean? Did they mean Congress should take some of your income in order to make mine equal to yours? Or did they mean that Congress should mandate quotas to insure men are equally represented by race?
Perhaps they meant Congress should confiscate the income of young people and give it to older people in the name of equality.
None of these perversions of the principle of equality among men were expressed by the Founders. What they meant is that all men should be treated equally before the law. Indeed equality that can be achieved without destroying freedom.
If government takes your earnings, in the attempt to equalize our incomes, it doesn’t treat us equally i.e., you don’t have rights to my property. When the law allows unions to block entrances and commit acts of violence yet jails the ordinary citizen if he does the same, it’s not treating us equally.
Restrictions on freedom and inequality before the law is typical history. What’s rare is the amount of freedom we now enjoy. All of man’s history is mostly one of arbitrary control and abuse by government.
In those rare instances where a free people lost that freedom, they seldom lost it all at once. They lost it as we are doing - by all degrees. Congress violates privacy. More and more laws are written governing our relations with our fellow man, and government favoritism is on the rise.
The theme for this year’s Fourth of July celebration should be rebellion against government encroachment on our freedom, while we are still able to rebel without guns.”
Creator
Walter E. Williams
Publisher
Baltimore African American
Date
1986-7-12
Collection
Citation
Walter E. Williams, “Peaceful Rebellion, p. 5,” African American Fourth of July, accessed April 29, 2024, https://africanamerican4th.omeka.net/items/show/25.