Our
Lives, Our Fortunes, and Our Sacred Honor
Two hundred thirty seven years ago,
our forefathers sat in a hot room with closed windows arguing over the future of
the thirteen colonies they represented. For a while they had thought of
reconciliation with their motherland. But over time it became clear that neither
King nor Parliament were interested in anything other than submission.
These fifty-six men did what had not
been done before them.
They outlined their grievances on
paper, declared their independence, and signed their names so both King and
Parliament would know who the traitors were. The act was treason punishable by
death. Some of them did die. Some were bankrupted. Many lost their homes and
property. Some saw their wives and children taken and abused. But none recanted.
All held firm.
237 years later we view the unanimous
Declaration of the thirteen united States of America in the abstract. The
grievances are distant if not surreal. But it was very real to them.
The United States of America today
stands 69 years removed from D-Day.
D-Day was 79 years from the end of
the Civil War, and 81 years removed from Gettysburg, which we are now 150 years
separated from in time and history.
The beginning of the Civil War was 85
years from 1776 and only 72 years from the constitution being enacted.
The Revolution was only 88 years from
the Glorious Revolution — a revolution from which we are separated by a chasm of
325 years.
It was the Glorious Revolution that
so influenced our founders. It was not abstract to them. It was not far removed.
It was an event in the lifetimes of some of their grand parents. Parliament’s
supremacy was asserted. The British subjects became citizens and acquired
certain rights under the Bill of Rights of 1689 while others from the Magna
Carta were reinforced. Among the rights derived from the Glorious Revolution
were prohibitions on taxation without representation in Parliament, prohibitions
on a standing army, the right to petition the King without prosecution, the
prohibition on dispensing with Acts of Parliament, and the prohibition of fines
and forfeitures before convictions of crimes.
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