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.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be
changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath
shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable,
than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same
Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their
right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new
Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of
these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter
their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great
Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct
object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove
this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
What
this passage or historic document is talking about, is no man is higher than
any other. One of its famous lines is “all men are created equal”. Anyone who
obtains too much power especially the government, the people have the right to
change or abolish it to create a new government. The government will try to
play it safe by doing the same things that they are accustomed to in Great Britain.
When this happens, it is the people duty to overthrow those situations and
provide a new government. Lastly, it also goes into talking about the history
of the present King of Great Britain.
The
reason why I picked this passage is because of how important this document was
to people then and now. On the other hand it was so bias towards women and African
American slaves. I had a Professor say to me one time whenever she reads this
it gives her the chills at the time I didn’t understand. So I read up on it and
this class also gave me an insight to finally understand what she meant. To truly
understand you have to know the context of when this was written, it was in 1776.
When African American slaves were only treated as ¾ of a person and women weren’t
even thought about as equals, they were less than the men. So that famous line
“All MEN created equal” they were literally only talking about white men. This historic
document, from 1776 to 2015 and beyond gave white men the power within our
government. Even though today we have an African American president this document
makes me think about who truly holds the power. In my opinion this passage contradicts
to what truly was happening. The reason why I say this is because this passages
talks about how the government might start to “play it safe” and enforce rules
that they are accustomed to from Great Britain. So if that happens the people
have the right to overthrow the government. In “Trans-National America” it
talked about how the United States turned out to be worse than Great Britain. They
tried so hard not to be like them but in reality they ended up being a lot stricter
than their motherland. In conclusion this is the reason why I picked this passage.
No comments:
Post a Comment