In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars

VII

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.

VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

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In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public

VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been

committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

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No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime,

V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation

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III

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

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A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,

II

A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

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Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,

I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

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The United States Bill of Rights.

The United States Bill of Rights.

The Ten Original Amendments to the Constitution of the United States Passed by Congress September 25, 1789 Ratified December 15, 1791

I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the

Government for a redress of grievances.

II

A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

III

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.

VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

VII

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.

VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

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Part-5 > The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America

Part-5 > The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America

Nor have We been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our

emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the 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; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; 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, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

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Part-4 > The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy of the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free People.

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Part-3 > The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws of Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

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Part-2 > The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

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Part-1 > The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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.

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. 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. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. 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. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

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The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson

Ebook1, Declaration, Declaration of Independence, United States, Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence of United States of America

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The Declaration of Independence – a perspective

Probably one of the most cited political documents in the political landscape of the United States, perhaps cited only less then the actual Constitution of the United States itself, is the Declaration of Independence penned by Thomas Jefferson in 1776.  Most citizens of the United States are familiar with the portions of the opening lines of the Declaration, usually the most famous quote of all: “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.”  Some who are particularly familiar with the document will also know that right after those famous words Jefferson proceeds to state that governments are created by groups of people to safeguard those rights and, should a government fail to do so, it is the duty of the citizens under that government to remove it and replace it with one that does safeguard those rights.  Sadly though most citizens of the United States have never read the rest of the document nor are they particularly familiar with the political reality with which Jefferson and his fellow delegates at the Continental Congress were attempting to grapple, a nearly despotic government in the literal sense of the word.

Right after the famous introduction to the Declaration of Independence Jefferson proceeded to state a specific list of charges against the King of England and the King’s government over the colonies, specific charges of misconduct that were the reason that the American colonies needed to end their long standing allegiance to the British crown and instead seek out to forge a new independent nation.  I highly recommend you take a moment and pursue these charges leveled against the King and his government, check out the source linked below for an accurate rendition of the text of the Declaration of Independence.  Probably the most common theme that Jefferson writes about is how the King, through various means, has prevented the colonies from passing legislation to administer their own affairs efficiently, properly, and internally.  In addition the King is accused of taking active steps to make it very difficult for the legislatures of the colonies to meet or conduct their business on behalf of those who have elected them to office.  In addition Jefferson also charges that the British crown has taken from the colonists property without proper compensation, by forcing them to quarter troops on their own property, and maintained standing armies on the soil of the colonies without the consent of those forced to provide for, and live among, those troops.  Finally Jefferson outlines many cases in which citizens of the colonies have been denied what could be considered a fair trial, through mechanisms such as being transported to England for trail, false trails for crimes committed on behalf of the Crown’s interests, and individuals being simply seized for service in the British navy without any sort of recourse.  Finally Jefferson outlines several cases in which the policy of the British crown has arbitrarily imposed taxes upon the citizens of the colonies and has blocked the natural economic growth of the American colonies.

The key element to the Declaration of Independence that many modern citizens of the United States fail to comprehend is that Jefferson was writing against a system of government that was, for the colonies, very nearly a true tyranny.  The British crown had considerable authority within the American colonies, by 1776 many of them had had their charters revoked and had instead been turned into Crown colonies, meaning that their political, civil, and judicial leadership was answerable solely to the British crown.  The citizens of the American colonies had no legal recourse to appeal against the edicts imposed upon them by the British crown and executed by military forces loyal to the British crown, military forces that were disconnected from the communities in which they enforced the law.  (Hence the charge by Jefferson that the British crown had placed mercenary forces in the colonies, specifically German mercenaries whose loyalty was purchased by the British crown, a long-standing relationship.)  Even the British parliament, a legislative force that could restrict the power of the British crown in any way it chose to, had no representatives from the American colonies within it to promote the interests of the colonists.

The Declaration of Independence was a statement of desperation in many ways, as well as a potent tool of political propaganda, Jefferson and his fellow delegates were arguing the case for independence more to their own fellow citizens then stating their causes to the British crown.  None the less though the Declaration clearly argues that because of all the violations by the British crown of the basic human rights held by the colonists, and because the British crown was unresponsive to all efforts to end these abuses, the colonists had no choice but to take up arms to win their independence from an unresponsive, tyrannical form of government.  Fortunately modern citizens of the United States have another option short of armed rebellion to instill change in their government, the ballot box, which despite the feelings of some citizens of the United States is a powerful tool by which the citizen base not only provides its consent to be ruled but also directly shapes the nature of government.  Now this is not to say that democracy in the United States is not without its serious flaws, historic and modern, but the very fact that citizens of the United States can vote, and those votes do select the leadership of the various governments of the United States, marks this nation as one which has moved far from the tyrannical roots that the Jefferson with his Declaration of Independence cried out against.

As an interesting additional exercise after reading the Declaration of Independence review the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States, specifically the Bill of Rights, you will notice that each amendment in the Bill of Rights neatly addresses some aspect of the abuses of power outlined in the Declaration of Independence.  It is a brilliant symmetry of design and one often not appreciated today.

Sources:
The Declaration of Independence, a full text

The Bill of Rights to the Constitution of the United States of America, a full text

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