Declaration of Independence
A Latin statement commonly used in the Middle Ages to define the purpose of government reads: servitium propter jura, non potestas praeter jura. This succinct statement translates to mean, "service to and for the sake of rights, not a power exercised beyond or outside of rights." This age-old definition of what gains a government should work toward, coupled with a belief in the importance of universal rights, provided in essence the backbone of the American Declaration of Independence. However, Thomas Jefferson and the Continental Congress chose a more contemporary elaboration of what was meant by those succinct Latin words when they endeavored to break the union with England. Yet few Americans choose to take the opportunity to learn and understand those defining principles that the Founding Fathers laid forth in that first and all-important document. If contemporary Americans were to simply read the words and follow the principles that reside within Declaration of Independence, the nation as a whole might be philosophically aimed in an entirely different direction...the one for which it was first intended.The Declaration of Independence was written as a means of accusing the English King of wrongs before the world as a jury.
(Munves 13) These are rights believed to be the common property of all individuals, regardless of nationality, and are older indeed than any government. The United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides an impressive list that literally dwarfs the triad proposed by Jefferson, and certainly encompasses rights that never would have been conceived in the eighteenth century. and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and 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. The percentage of young people who vote continues to drop, and community participation among this age group is distinctly apolitical. Jefferson also felt, as all of the colonies did, that the protection of these basic human rights was the fundamental reason for the existence of any government at all. all men are created equal," became the heart and foundation of the American democracy. Many believe that it was a declaration to England and her King of the colony's intent to be independent. Such rights consequently do not depend on governments for their existence; however, they do depend on governments for their enforcement. 's Declaration would fall short of the standards of contemporary people today. a stumbling block to all those who in after times might seek to turn a free people back into the hateful path of despotism. This does not necessarily reflect a decreased interest in politics. According to the Declaration, "all men are created equal. Taken another way, Governments are here to ensure that an individual can do whatever he or she wishes, as long as it does not infringe on the natural rights of another.
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Acceptance Essays
