Fake News About the Declaration of Independence

   Nestor Ramos, a columnist for the Boston Globe, writes today (July 7), “Coming up with a novel way to celebrate the Fourth of July is not easy after 240 years and tweeting the Declaration of Independence line by line, as National Public Radio did this week, seems as good as any….These 1300 or so words set the founding of our nation in motion ….” The Declaration does say that the “people” of 13 English colonies are behind this great document but it is fake news that it is about “the founding of our nation”. 21 days before the Declaration on June 12, the Virginia Constitutional Convention adopted The Virginia Declaration of Rights. Thomas Jefferson used it for the opening paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence. Section 14 reads, “That the people have a right to uniform government; and, therefore, that no government separate from or independent of the government of Virginia ought to be erected or established within the limits thereof.” Does Mr. Ramos expect us to believe that the 7 Virginia men who signed the Declaration of Independence 21 days later accepted that Virginia was now agreeing to being one state in a nation governed by a central government? Our great Declaration of our American freedom got rid bravely and morally of a government ruling our 13 states but it did not found a nation and clearly did in its own words create 13 sovereign independent states. The Declaration declares solemnly in its final paragraph, “that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do.” The words of men pledging their honor to fight to the death for the freedom of their states do not lie. Fake news does.

Daniel McNeill

Read 12 essays by Daniel McNeill on American history at: usoftheworld.com/history