After four drafts, Thomas Jefferson presented this to the Continental Congress, “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…”  Twelve years later, in 1788, James Madison would convey the Constitution at the Constitutional Convention.

The ideas that were drafted in these two brilliant documents came from English law and history.  The documents establish a contractual relationship between the people and the government.  A relationship is a two way dialogue.  These amazing documents declare that the government has one job:  To protect the individual liberties of its citizens.  Commerce (business) was to be regular (not regulated).  Money is to be honest and the markets are to be free.  The Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were written to keep government away from infringing on God given individual liberty.  The Constitution is a small, dense document which clearly states how far government can go, while preserving the rights of the people in the Bill of Rights.  These documents were written acknowledging each person’s God given individual rights-using God given morality (Bible) as their guide.  Our founders acknowledged that we are one nation under God (Psalm 2).  The more people understand their God given rights as given in the Bible, the more the people will know what the “consent of the governed” means.  Happy Independence Day 2020!