Volokh Conspiracy "When reading the Declaration, it is worth keeping in mind two very important facts. The Declaration constituted high treason against the Crown and every person who signed it would be executed as traitors should they be caught by the British. Second, the Declaration was considered to be a legal document by which the revolutionaries justified their actions, and explained why they were not truly traitors. It represented, as it were, a literal indictment of the Crown and Parliament, in the very same way that criminals are now publicly indicted for their alleged crimes by grand juries representing “the People.”
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"Later, the Declaration also assumes increasing importance in the struggle to abolish slavery. It is a foundational document of the Nineteenth Century abolitionists and was much relied upon by Abraham Lincoln. It had to be explained away by the Supreme Court in Dred Scott. Eventually, it was repudiated by some defenders of slavery in the South because of its inconsistency with that institution. This repudiates the claims of many who say the Constitution allowed slavery.
The Annotated Constitution
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"Later, the Declaration also assumes increasing importance in the struggle to abolish slavery. It is a foundational document of the Nineteenth Century abolitionists and was much relied upon by Abraham Lincoln. It had to be explained away by the Supreme Court in Dred Scott. Eventually, it was repudiated by some defenders of slavery in the South because of its inconsistency with that institution. This repudiates the claims of many who say the Constitution allowed slavery.
"To appreciate all that is packed into these two paragraphs, it is useful to break down the Declaration into some of its key claims."
Left Coast Rebel posts this about the above article. "Like everyone here, last week's developments find me deeply disturbed. Like many points in the past several years I fear for not only my safety, liberty and economic freedom, I also fear for the same thing for my family and my loved ones that will live in this land generations from now.
"On this point - just what should we celebrate Independence Day for today, this July 4? Independence from what? From England? Or is it a lot bigger than that (of course it is)...
"Randy Barnett, writing at the Volokh Conspiracy points us to an annotated version of the Declaration of Independence, what it means, and what it should mean in an America under the creeping shadow of an opressive(sic), all-powerful Leviathan government:"The Annotated Constitution
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