American Constitutional History
Short Paper #2
Joshua Christiansen
GOVT 421-B02
Sunday, February 3, 2020
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“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.
1
” These words, written in the Preamble of the
Declaration of Independence, are infamous for being the start of the
founding document of the American political tradition. This founding
document communicates fundamental ideas that helped form the
new nation; such as the belief “that all men are created equal and
possess the same inherent natural rights.” Many Americans seem to
confuse the Declaration of Independence as being a founding legal
document, similar to the Constitution, but the Declaration is simply
that: a declaration of freedom. It was letter and document sent to
King George III of England from the Continental Congress, essentially
declaring that the Congress was cutting the ties between the
American colonies and its ruler across the Atlantic, Great Britain. As
the colonies were unhappy with the British government’s claim over
the New World, they wanted to rid themselves of King George III’s
tyrannical rule over a land that he and his aristocracy knew nothing
about. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services history
page writes that, “In 1774, leaders from the colonies met in
Philadelphia to discuss British laws that they believed were unfair.
They believed that Great Britain did not treat the colonists as equal
citizens. They thought the people needed more control over their
3
1 Jefferson, Thoams. “The Declaration of Independence.” 1776. Retrieved from
https://www.archives.gov/founding- docs/declaration-transcript.
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government.
2
” After militias were formed and tensions became
increasingly high between the colonists and the British government,
in 1776, the final text of the Declaration of Independence was
officially signed by the Continental Congress and sent to the King of
England.
Main Ideas of the Declaration of Independence
Natural Rights and Religious Liberties, and Self-Governance
There were quite a few main ideas that the founding fathers had in mind when they were
debating, constructing, and drafting the Declaration of Independence; some of these were the
ideas of liberty, especially religious liberties, equality for all men, and the idea of a new kind of
community and self-governance of that community. Within Donald S. Lutz’s book, “The Origins
of American Constitutionalism,” he writes that natural liberty is defined as the state in which
everyone is free to act as he thinks fit, by subject only to the laws of God.”3 The founding fathers
believed that natural liberty rested upon people’s God given nature, which includes free will or
the ability to choose freely. Lutz also notes that “civil liberty is natural liberty restricted by
established laws as expedient or necessary for the good of community. As we have just seen,
since humans reach their highest development in civil society, liberty really means civil liberty.”4
The founding fathers and signers of the declaration believed civil liberty to be a vital part of
community and self-governance; they believed that civil liberty rested upon exercising that God
given ability in order to enlarge men’s sphere of choice and to control as much as possible those
things affecting their lives. Essentially, the founding fathers believed that civil liberty rested
upon
2 “The Colonies Under British Rule”. Retrieved from www.uscis.gov/citizenship.
5
3 Lutz, Donald S. The Origin of American Constitutionalism. London: Louisiana State University Press,
1988. 4 Ibid.
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consent, and under King George’s tyrannical rule, they felt they were constantly seeking his
consent, rather than recognizing they had their own individual freedom to give themselves
consent.
Contract Theory
Social contract theory is the idea that people willingly give up their own power and rights
in order to maintain social order. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were two philosophers who
argued two different aspects of the social contract theory. Hobbes argued that in order to say
alive, people form a contract with the government, who then becomes the authority, while Locke
argued that there should be separation of government powers and individuals should have
protected rights. Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, used
ideas of Locke’s social contract theory to argue for independence, as is evident in the written
ideas of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Limited Government
John Locke, as a heavy influence of Thomas Jefferson’s writing of the Declaration of
Independence, contributed to the theory of social compact the idea that man in a state of nature
realize their rights are insecure, and compact together to establish a government and see that
government certain power so that government may use that power to secure the rest of their
rights.5 Eidsmoe writes that, “The social compact theory is similar to the Calvinist idea of
covenant. The social compact theory, like the covenant, allows the government only the power
God and/or people delegate.6” This is the basis of limited government. This idea can be found in
5 John Eidsmoe, Christianity and the Constitution: The Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Grand Rapids,
MI:Baker Book House, 1995).
6 Ibid.
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the 10th amendment to the Constitution and in the Declaration of Independence, which states that
governments exist to secure human rights and “Derive their just powers from the consent of the
governed.”
Biblical Principles in the Declaration of Independence
Biblical principles were very important to the construction of the Declaration of
Independence. In his book, Eidsmoe states that “Charles Louis Joseph de Secondat, otherwise
known as Montesquieu, was cited by the founders of this nation more frequently than any other
source except the Bible.”7 He was a devout Catholic who held the belief that “all law has it
source in God. In his writings, Montesquieu expressed that he felt Christianity promoted good
government and religion helped to foster values “which find expression in civil laws.”
Furthermore, His main contribution to the founding fathers was that of separation of powers
between the branches of government. Similarly, when it comes to the rule of God, His
government performs the same legislative, executive, and judicial functions. Isaiah wrote, “For
the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; He will save us” (Isaiah
33:22).
Political Ideas Not Found in the Declaration of Independence
There seemed to be a few political ideas that were discussed in the Declaration of
Independence and a few political ideas that the founding fathers decided not to include in any of
the founding documents. Like discussed earlier, the Declaration of Independence was simply a
formal declaration of intent to separate the American colonies from the rule of England. The
7 John Eidsmoe, Christianity and the Constitution: The Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Grand Rapids,
MI:Baker Book House, 1995).
8
Constitution, however, was the foundational document that laid out how the government of the
new nation was to be run. One of the most controversial political ideas that was left out of these
documents, specifically from the Declaration of Independence, was the idea of slavery. Despite
the Declaration of Independence stating that “all men are created equal,” it is historically
concluded that the founding fathers left out the idea of slavery in this document because they
feared the public outcry or back-lash they would receive.8
In conclusion, the founding fathers and the authors and signers of the Declaration of
Independence held several ideas which they carefully wrote into the core of the foundational
documents of the United States. One could argue that the Bible and biblical principles also laid
the framework for a new nation, under God.
8 McClellan, James. Liberty Order, and Justice: an Introduction to the Constitutional Principles of
American Government. Liberty Fund, 2000.
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References
Jefferson, Thoams. “The Declaration of Independence.” 1776. Retrieved
from https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript.
John Eidsmoe, Christianity and the Constitution: The Faith of Our Founding Fathers (Grand
Rapids, MI:Baker Book House, 1995).
Lutz, Donald S. The Origin of American Constitutionalism. London: Louisiana State University
Press, 1988.
McClellan, James. Liberty, Order, and Justice: an Introduction to the Constitutional Principles
of American Government. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2000.
“The Colonies Under British Rule”. Retrieved from www.uscis.gov/citizenship.
