The Declaration of Independence-the Blueprint for Secession

WHEN in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.

Although not a governing document, the Declaration of Independence provides the blueprint for government by consent and secession. The severed ties with Great Britain eventually led to the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union and, later, the U.S. Constitution.

Massachusetts Senator Timothy Pickering, who served under George Washington in various roles and briefly served under John Adams, described secession as “‘the’ principle of the American Revolution—the very right that the revolutionaries fought for.”

Virginia’s Thomas Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. Once the initial draft was finished, Adams and Ben Franklin made minor alterations before it was presented to Congress.

Adams had long advocated for colonial independence, a goal mirrored by Virginia, which declared its independence on May 15, 1776. Richard Henry Lee stated: “these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states, that are absolved of all allegiance to the British Crown…” A State was considered the same as a country, e.g., England, France, Spain, etc.

The basis of the American Revolution was threefold: rights are God-given and unalienable; legitimate governments are created to protect these rights; and any time government fails to live up to its charge of protecting the rights of the people, “men have a right and even a duty to overthrow that government and create a new one.”

It is generally accepted that rights are God given. Otherwise, they presumably come from some form of government. This ideology is often connected to collectivism, e.g., socialism, communism, fascism, etc. Though some Founders were Deists, the Declaration was based on individual liberty, a cornerstone of Christianity.

Second, legitimate government is created to protect the rights of individuals. If it fails to protect these rights, its legitimacy is forfeited. Confederate States’ President Jefferson Davis referenced this in his Farewell Address to the Senate: “I hope the time may come again, when a better comprehension of the theory of our Government, and the inalienable rights of the people of the States, will prevent any one from denying that each State is a sovereign, and thus may reclaim the grants which it has made to any agent whomsoever.” Article I of the Treaty of Paris (1783) describes the agreement between Great Britain and Thirteen “free, sovereign, and independent States” (no central authority)—Davis stressed that the States never relinquished their sovereignty.

Davis went on to say: “Then, Senators, we recur to the compact which binds us together; we recur to the principles upon which our Government was founded; ..., and when you deny to us the right to withdraw from a Government which thus perverted threatens to be destructive of our rights, we but tread in the path of our fathers when we proclaim our independence, and take the hazard.”

Abraham Lincoln referenced the Declaration in the Gettysburg Address and various speeches in a completely different context, making the ahistorical claim that the Declaration referenced a nation instead of a confederation of sovereign States. He stated: “I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence….”

The third point is that when a government does not uphold its role, it is the duty of the people to either alter the existing government or create a new one. The wording from the Declaration is as follows:

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...But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Although the Declaration contained the Enlightenment inspired “all men are created equal” that phrase meant under the law, not “pie in the sky” egalitarianism. (The Enlightenment’s impact is a discussion for another day.) America offered opportunities for religious and economic freedom along with representative government. The Declaration of Independence—almost certainly the greatest blueprint for secession in recorded history--makes it clear what to do when government fails to represent its constituents.

Sources: The Declaration of Independence,” ConstitutionFacts.com, http://www.constitutionfacts.com/us-declaration-of-independence/read-the-declaration/; Thomas J. DiLorenzo, “Rewriting History, American Style,” L.M. Schwartz, The Virginia Land Rights Coalition, March 1, 2002, http://www.vlrc.org/authors/59.html; Kevin R.C. Gutzman, J.D., Ph.D., The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution (Washington, D.C .: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2007); Charley Reese, “We Are Revolutionaries,” LewRockwell.com, September 19, 2005, https://www.lewrockwell.com/2005/09/charley-reese/were-revolutionaries/; “Jefferson Davis’ Farewell Address,” Senate Chamber, U.S. Capitol, January 21, 1861, The Papers of Jefferson Davis, Rice University, https://jeffersondavis.rice.edu/Content.aspx?id=87; Lincoln, Independence Hall, February 22, 1861,” ushistory.org, http://www.ushistory.org/independencehall/history/lincoln.htm NOTE: The Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence on July 2, 1776 but it took two days for the Congress to approve the “edited” version. Also, neither the Articles of Confederation or the U.S. Constitution established a “nation” – that word is nowhere to be found in either document. Confederate States’ President Jefferson Davis made his farewell comments in the Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol on January 21, 1861.

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