The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

1972 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 279within the time context, is thatAmericans are equals of Englishmen.They had been contendingfor this since the dispute betweenthe two had occurred. Americanshad claimed that they had thesame right to tax themselves asEnglishmen, the same right tolegislate, and eventually theyclaimed the same trading privileges.It was the failure of theBritish government to accordthem equal rights which had provokedthe dispute. The justificationfor revolt now became thefact that they had been deprivedof their rights. This needs furtherdiscussion in terms of what menwere to make of the phrase later.Before going into that, one othermatter from the past needs to beconsidered.The· justification for revolt bythe colonies was tied up with theinstitution of monarchy. Whetheror not they would have theirgrievances redressed depended inconsiderable measure upon the willof the king. Hereditary monarchyhad long posed a problem in. politicaltheory, at least for Westernthinkers. Suppose the monarchwere a tyrant? Suppose he imposedhis will, in an arbitrary anddespotic fashion, over the people?It had long been held, by some,that it was the right of the peopleto kill a tyrant. However attractivethe idea might have been. to someAmericans, they never seriouslyconsidered it. And for very goodreason: it would not have settledthe issues in contention. But thefact that they were ruled by amonarch gave the colonists a justificationfor revolution that is deniedto those who live underelectiveexecutives.EqualitySefore the LawReturning to the matter ofequality, it should be stated thatthe phrase "all men are createdequal" had and has a much broaderpotential of application than tothe simple proposition of the equalityof Englishmen and Americans.Its meaning is fairly clear in thecontext: all men have an .equalclaim to certain natural rights.More, the case is implicit forequality before the law, that is,that the law shall deal with actsand not classes of people. Nor isthere any reason to doubt thatJefferson believed this principleapplied to blacks as well as whites,and that there shou~d only be freemen, not slaves.Later in American history, somehave read the Declaration of Independenceinto an idealisticframework. It is from this anglethat some would see the Declarationas calling for continuing revolutionand as a dream for Americathat is yet to be realized. Suchnotions separate the doctrines al-