A Week of Independence Thought

I came across a speech by President Calvin Coolidge on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.  You can read the entire thing right here.  Near the end I read this:

Under a system of popular government there will always be those who will seek for political preferment by clamoring for reform.  While there is very little of this which is not sincere, there is a large portion that is not well informed.  In my opinion very little of just criticism can attach to the theories and principles of our institutions.  There is far more danger of harm than there is hope of good in any radical changes.  We do need a better understanding and comprehension of them and a better knowledge of the foundations of government in general.  Our forefathers came to certain conclusions and decided upon certain courses of action which have been a great blessing to the world. Before we can understand their conclusions we must go back and review the course which they followed.  We must think the thoughts which they thought.  Their intellectual life centered around the meeting-house.  They were intent upon religious worship.  While there were always among them men of deep learning, and later those who had comparatively large possessions, the mind of the people was not so much engrossed in how much they knew, or how much that had, as in how they were going to live  While scantily provided with other literature, there was a wide acquaintance with the Scriptures.  Over a period as great as that which measures the existence of our Independence they were subject to this discipline not only in their religious life and educational training, but also in their political thought.  They were a people who came under the influence of a great spiritual development and acquired a great moral power.


No other theory is adequate to explain or comprehend the Declaration of Independence.  It is a product of the spiritual insight of the people.  We live in an age of science and of abounding accumulation of material things.  These did not create our Declaration.  Our Declaration created them.


Read the whole thing.  It is worth the 10 or so minutes it takes.

The Declaration of Independence

The text of the Declaration can be found here.  I want to encourage all of you to read the text and think about it a little on this 4th of July.  One day I was wondering what to do in my study.  I decided to get a copy of the Declaration and the Constitution and hang them up as a daily reminder of the origins of the republic and our charge to keep it.  I hope your 4th is a great day and a safe day for all of you and your families.