Editorial: Liberty still is vibrant in this nation

Tuesday, July 3, 2001 | 9:21 a.m.

As Americans prepare to celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, it's not uncommon to hear people lament that politicians in our era pale in comparison to our Founding Fathers. Modern-day leaders too often rely on polls to tell them what to think -- taking a risky stand on an important issue is considered heresy by their high-priced consultants. It's difficult for some Americans to imagine many of today's politicians having the courage to sign the Declaration of Independence, a document that changed the course of history and to this very day still inspires people around the globe to free themselves from oppression. It shouldn't be surprising then that a current best seller is a flattering biography of John Adams, one of the Founding Fathers and the second president of the United States.

But nostalgia can overshadow reality, and the Founding Fathers were far from perfect and had all the frailties that today's leaders possess. For instance, Thomas Jefferson, the man who penned the Declaration of Independence and its most famous line -- "all men are created equal" -- was a slaveholder. While Adams is enjoying a rebirth in popularity, he also had his flaws as a number of commentators recently have pointed out in reviewing David McCullough's biography of Adams. After all, Adams signed into law the notorious Alien and Sedition Acts. The Alien Act gave the president the power to deport aliens deemed dangerous. The Sedition Act made it a crime to publish false, malicious or scandalous statements about the U.S. government, Congress and the president. A stain on Adams' legacy was left by the Sedition Act, which was meant to silence Federalist Party critics, including newspapers supporting Jeffersonian Republicans. Still, it is remarkable that the Founding Fathers, wart! ! s and all, were able to create a revolutionary document whose ideas continue to inspire men and women 225 years after it was written.

There are scholars who contend that the U.S. Constitution has played a more prominent and lasting role in our nation's history than has the Declaration of Independence. It was the Constitution that created a masterfully balanced system of government, whether it's the sharing of power between the states and the national government or the establishment of checks and balances by creating three co-equal branches of government. The Bill of Rights in the Constitution also laid down fundamental liberties that can't be trampled on by the government.

But to discover the heart of our nation you have to turn to the concepts of equality and democratic rule laid out so perfectly in the Declaration of Independence's most memorable passage: "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."

Of course, at our nation's birth, slavery was still in existence so the nation failed to fully honor the Declaration of Independence's commitment to equality. It wasn't until slavery finally was ended by the Civil War, the most painful chapter in the history of the United States, that this nation started on the path to making equality a reality. And over time the United States invoked the principles outlined in the Declaration of Independence to not only better the lot of Americans, but to also help people overseas escape tyranny, even entering wars that cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of young Americans. The United States has stood as a beacon for freedom, in large part because of the nation's constant striving to live up to the ideals embodied in the Declaration of Independence.

archive