Independence Now And Independence Forever
By Chuck Baldwin
This Tuesday, July 4, 2023, America celebrates the 247th anniversary of the adoption of our Declaration of Independence.
On July 4, 1837, John Quincy Adams said these words about Independence Day:
Why is it that, next to the
birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated
festival returns on this day [Independence Day]?... Is it not that,
in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly
linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event
in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the
Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the
foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth? That it laid the
cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity,
and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfillment
of the prophecies, announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the
Savior and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets six hundred
years before?
Notice that Adams said that our Declaration of Independence exhibits four major accomplishments:
1. It formed a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation.
2. It first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth.
3. It laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.
4. It was the first irrevocable pledge of the
fulfillment of the prophecies announced directly from Heaven at the
birth of the Savior.
Adams was exactly right. The United States of America is
the only nation in human history established by (mostly) Christian
people upon 2,000 years of Christian thought—including being formed as a
direct result of the Protestant Reformation—and God’s Natural Law
principles and dedicated to the purpose of religious and personal
liberty and equal justice under the law.
Not long ago, I was interviewed for another documentary movie (I’m featured in 14 full-length documentary films).
The producer asked me to iterate the basic principles upon which
America was founded. Based on my study of the Declaration, Constitution,
Bill of Rights and the copious supplemental writings of the Founding
Fathers, here, I believe, are the principles upon which America was
founded:
1. That man is created equal under God, and as such, human life is a sacred gift of God.
2. That the Natural rights of the individual are inalienable and superior to the will of the state.
3. That government exists to protect the Natural rights
and liberties of man, not to provide man with public benefits and
favors.
4. That a man is innocent until proven guilty, that he
has the Natural right to a trial by jury and the right to a defense
attorney.
5. That people have a Natural right to choose their own form of government.
6. That individuals have a Natural right and duty to bear arms for their own protection.
7. That the power and reach of the central government
needs to be limited, being held in check by independent sovereign states
and a well regulated and fully equipped militia.
8. That religious liberty is the core of America’s freedoms.
9. That the people have a Natural right and duty to alter or abolish any government that has become tyrannical.
10. That America would always be a constitutional republic.
11. That only sound money would be used as legal tender so as to keep the federal government from amassing excessive debt.
12. That America would always promote and protect a free market economy with limited governmental interference.
13. That a man’s home is his castle and his personal property can never be seized except by arduous due process.
(I’m in the process of reproducing the work of one of
America’s most important—and least remembered—Founding Fathers: James
Otis. This new book will also include a brief biography of this great
man. Perhaps more than any other founder, James Otis was responsible for
America’s respect for the sacred principles enshrined in our Fourth
Amendment. Watch for this new book here
14. That a free society depends upon the acceptance and
application of God’s Natural Laws relating to the pursuit of happiness
and peace, upon governmental adherence to the Law of Nations and upon
upholding our Creator’s foundational moral code relating to human
behavior.
15. That liberty depends upon the unfettered exercise of
the Christian religion, including strong, uninhibited preaching from
America’s pulpits.
The Declaration begins:
When in the Course of human
events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political
bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the
powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of
Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the
opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which
impel them to the separation.
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.
The Declaration ends:
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 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.
Here are a few statements from America’s founders after the Declaration was approved by Congress:
John Hancock said, “There! His Majesty can now read my
name without spectacles. And he can double the reward on my head.” (The
Crown had put a reward of 500 pounds sterling on Hancock’s head. That
amounts to over $100,000 in today’s money)
George Washington said, “The preservation of the sacred
fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of Government,
are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the
experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”
Thomas Paine said, “Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”
Stephen Hopkins, a signer of the Declaration from Rhode
Island, said as he signed the document, “My hand trembles, but my heart
does not.”
Indeed, Hopkins (and the rest of the signers) had reason
to tremble. Of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence,
nine died of wounds or hardships during the war. Five were captured,
imprisoned and tortured. Several lost wives, children or entire
families. Two wives were brutalized and tortured. All were, at one time
or another, the victims of manhunts and driven from their homes by
British soldiers. Twelve signers had their homes completely burned.
Seventeen lost everything they owned.
Carter Braxton, a wealthy planter and merchant, saw his
ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and
properties to pay his debts and died in rags.
Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he was
forced to move his family constantly. He served in Congress without pay,
and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were seized by the
British, and he died in poverty.
At the Battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr. noted that
British General Cornwallis was using his home for his headquarters. Out
of respect to Nelson, General Washington refused to fire on the
dwelling. Nelson privately urged Washington to open fire on his home,
saying it was no longer his home but was now the headquarters of the
enemy. The home was subsequently destroyed. Nelson died bankrupt.
Frances Lewis had his home and properties destroyed by the British. They jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was
dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his
gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year, he lived in forests
and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and all of his 13
children vanished. He never saw them again.
The two patriots most responsible for the Declaration of
Independence, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both died on the same
day: July 4, 1826—the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the
Declaration. Daniel Webster gave the eulogy for both men on August 2 of
that year. He concluded his remarks with these words:
“It [the Declaration of Independence] is my living
sentiment, and by the blessing of God, it shall be my dying sentiment.
Independence now and independence forever.”
Amen! This should be the living and dying sentiment of every American:
Independence now and independence forever.
P.S. This is the FINAL NOTICE that we are currently
distributing the most important liberty documents in U.S. history. This
giant volume is called THE FREEDOM DOCUMENTS
Want to honor Independence Day? Buy your family and
friends a copy of THE FREEDOM DOCUMENTS. Help teach them what
Independence Day is truly all about—from the words of the men and women
who were there. It is no hyperbole to say that without a familiarity
with these great documents of American liberty and independence, one
cannot truly understand and appreciate what Independence Day really
means to us Americans.
This giant book is an excellent resource for high school
and college students—as well as home schools. Teachers, professors,
physicians, engineers, business owners, attorneys, judges and pastors
have purchased THE FREEDOM DOCUMENTS with extreme satisfaction.
The Tennessee State Supreme Court ordered several copies of THE FREEDOM DOCUMENTS not
long ago. Plus, a county sheriff in Montana recently ordered copies for
each of his deputies. I believe you will be just as pleased as they are
with this wonderful compilation of American documents.
You can have these great documents at your fingertips in
one beautifully bound, easy-to-read format. These are the documents
that gave birth to the greatest free nation on earth. To teach your
children and grandchildren the truth about Independence Day, give them a
copy of THE FREEDOM DOCUMENTS.
Again, nowhere else can you find these documents
complete in one volume under one title. And this is the FINAL NOTICE for
this printing. Our supply will be gone in a few days.
Order THE FREEDOM DOCUMENTS now.
Plus, we have been informed by the publisher that so many people have responded to our offer of the Matthew Henry Study Bible that we have exhausted the available stock.
Therefore, this notice is to inform readers that we now
have fewer than 100 copies of the Matthew Henry Study Bible left, and
when these are gone, there will be no more available until a new batch
can be printed—probably around November.
I’m offering this study Bible, because it is the one
comprehensive study Bible that does not promote Christian Zionism.
Beyond that, the Matthew Henry commentaries on the Bible (written from
1708 - 1710) are yet today the gold standard of Bible commentaries.
If you want a copy of this magnificent study Bible, order NOW, as these remaining copies will not last long.
