Government: One Purpose
By Andrew, FPP Intern
“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…” – The Declaration of Independence
In the late 1760s through the early 1770s, Great Britain became increasingly controlling of the American colonies – enacting heavy taxes and stringent laws. Tensions rose and violence ensued. Two of the more famous events that occurred as a result of Britain’s new policies took place in Boston. First, the Boston Massacre occured in 1770 when British soldiers killed five Colonists and injured six others. Second, the Boston Tea Party in 1773. Heavily taxed tea that officials refused to return to Britain was thrown into the harbor by the crate, thus destroying the tea. The Colonists decided that enough was enough and in 1775 America formed its first Army as it prepared to fight for independence from Britain.
America’s formal statement of separation came in the form of the Declaration of Independence, signed on July 4th, 1776. The text of our Declaration contains the best description of the kind of government our Nation’s founders believed in and intended to exist:
“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.”
America’s government was created with a principle behind it – to secure the rights, safety, and happiness of the people it governs; anything more is going too far. According to the Declaration of Independence, the People do not have the right to overthrow the government until it becomes fully destructive of their safety and happiness. For the Colonists, they felt that Britain met that requirement. It took eight years to overthrow Britain and start afresh with a government constructed with the right principles.
The principles behind a proper government are critical to the safety and happiness of its people. Government is meant to keep us safe, let us strive to make that a reality once again.
