INTRODUCTION TO THE LIBERTY PRINCIPLES
IN
AMERICAN POLITICS
by
Stephen L. Corrigan

All Copyrights Reserved

" 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."

The founders also believed that this concept of equal authority was taught in the Bible. They used Sir Walter Blackstone's Commentary on Law to explain and illustrate this Biblical concept. The following is from Blackstone's "Commentary on Law" concerning the equality of mankind at creation:

"If man were to live in a state of nature, unconnected with other individuals, there would be no occasion for any other laws, than the law of nature, and the law of God. Neither could any other law possibly exist; for a law always supposes some superior who is to make it; and in a state of nature we are all equal, without any other superior but him who is also the author of our being."

This phrase "law of nature" was explained by Blackstone a little earlier in his "Commentary on Law" in the following manner:

"This law of nature, being coeval with mankind and dictated by God himself, is of course superior in obligation to any other. It is binding over all the globe in all countries, and at all times; no human laws are of any validity, if contrary to this: and such of them as are valid derive all their force, and all their authority, mediately or immediately, from this original."

The founders identified the 13 colonies of their union as "Free Protestant". As Protestants, their Declaration in 1776 that "all men are created equal (in authority) " was consistent with the doctrine of their founder, the man who first openly protested the hierarchy of men (the pope and priests in the Roman Chatholic Church) over Christians. His name was Martin Luther. He was a Roman Catholic priest from Germany who began the "Protestant Reformation". He stated the following:

"I say, then, neither pope, nor bishop, nor any man whatever has the right of making one syllable binding on a Christian man, unless it be done with his own consent. Whatever is done otherwise is done in the spirit of tyranny...I cry aloud on behalf of liberty and conscience, and I proclaim with confidence that no kind of law can with any justice be imposed on Christians, except so far as they themselves will; for we are free from all."

As Protestant Christians, the founders believed that all Christians were in a covenant relationship with God the Father made possible through Jesus Christ. Because of that covenant, they felt that every Christian was obligated to follow at least the minimum of God 's Revealed Will (THE TEN COMMANDMENTS) found in His Holy printed Word. This belief was to be the foundation for order in all communities in America. This belief that God revealed his will directly to all believers regardless of sex was later known by the Free Protestants who came to America in 1620 as the "Priesthood of the Believer".

By accepting God's precepts as the standard for their consciences, they believed that God alone gave them liberty. Because dictionaries did not exist at the time of the Declaration of Independence, the only way one could determine how Liberty in America was defined both religiously and politically was to look at the only religious source that was to be accepted by all free Protestants. Once that source was determined and an examination of the political documents that had been written at that time had been made, it was a very simple task to determine how the founders applied their religious liberty politically. The only religious book at that time was the "The King James Version" of the Bible.

Let us see how Liberty is defined in this version of the Holy Scriptures. It is found in Psalms 119:45 :
 
"And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts."

Because the founders were "free Protestant" concerning their view of the Gospel and how it was to be spread in the world, they adopted a form of political union for their colonies that was taken from the Old World. It was not inconsistent with their religious views concerning associations. The type of political Union that was adopted by the first colonies in America was the "Confederation". This type of union allowed them to unite as a single union FOR SECURITY but allowed them to retain their right of sovereignty as Christians and their right of sovereignty to exist as 'free Protestant" colonies.

The first Confederation was formed in 1643. As we examine a portion of their Charter , we can gain a clear view of how they viewed their religious liberty politically. Again because there were no dictionaries at that time, this is the only source to see how liberty was view in America. It proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that they continued the belief of the pilgrims identifying God not man as the author and giver of their liberties. The following portion in that Charter clearly reflects the purpose of the American Confederation and souce of their Liberties. This, by the way is the same Confederation that fought the Revolutionary War:

Whereas we all came into these parts of America with one and the same end and aim, namely, to advance the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and to enjoy the liberties of the Gospel in purity with peace;

For our founders, one man's liberty did not rest upon another man's conscience. Each citizen had the right to program his conscience according to the standards he felt were true and to live his life as his conscience dictated in his pursuit for happiness. Again Blackstone speaks on the subject of pursuing happiness.

"For he (God) has so intimately connected, so inseparably inter-woven the laws of eternal justice with the happiness of each individual that the latter cannot be attained but by observing the former; and, if the former be punctually obeyed, it cannnot but induce the latter."

They believed that God gave life to all men and with that life the opportunity to follow him. As believers, they believed that they had a responsibility to protect the lives and liberties of their fellow Americans against all tyranny and that each citizen should have the right as a priest to pursue happiness according to the dictates of his own conscience.

"League of Friendship" identified the religious and political principles that were in their Confederation as colonies. Those same principles are identified when they again refer to their Confederation of free States as a"League of Friendship" (see Articles of the Confederation). As Christians, they defined the obligation of their sacred friendship in the following manner. In John 15:13 of the New Testament, Jesus made this statement to his followers:

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

Those founders considered the cost of belonging to the Union that they had created and determined that the treasure for their children was well worth the price. Thus they asked God for the following condition as they pledged their support to one another to protect the Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness of their fellow Americans. They asked God to keep them honest by holding them accountable for what they were about to pledge. They then pledged the following:

"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.

Rights of Conscience is the foundation of American Politics. Many Christians in America were worried at the time when the U.S. Constitution was passed and feared that their right to let God govern their conscience might be replaced by the authority given to Congress as the U.S. Constitution was ratified. Thomas Jefferson was aware of their concerns and wrote the following:

"No provision in our Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the power of its public functionaries..."

(Thomas Jefferson in a letter to the Methodist Episcopal Church at New London, Connecticut, Feb. 4, 1809).

"But our rulers can have no authority over such natural rights, only as we have submitted to them. The rights of conscience we never submitted, we could not submit. We are answerable for them to our God. The legitmate powers of government extend to such acts as are injurious to others."

(Thomas Jefferson quoted from "Jefferson Himself" edited by Bernard Mayo, p.81, University Press of Virginia).

In America, one man's liberty is not dependent upon another man's conscience!