2. The Second Continental Congress was a convention of
delegates from the 13 colonies that started meeting in
the summer of 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon
after the American Revolutionary War had begun.
3. The Declaration of
Independence
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary
for one people to dissolve the political bands which have
connected them with another, and to assume among the
powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which
the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a
decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they
should declare the causes which impel them to the
separation.
4. So which is it? Are we an aggregation of states (plurality)
or are we one people (unity)? If we answer an
aggregation, are we without a shared national life or
identity? And if we answer one people, are we willing to
give up our individuality in order to fit in?
5. The Declaration of
Independence
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
6. The second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence
defines the “one people” for whom the Declaration
speaks: those who accept without need for evidence the
proposition that all men are created equal.
7. The Declaration of
Independence
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted
among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent
of the governed.
8. The individual rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness are said to be “natural” as we receive them
from our Creator – they are a part of our nature. But
these rights are not self-executing; indeed, they depend
on government for their protection.
9. The Declaration of
Independence
That whenever any Form of Government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to
alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government, laying its foundation on such principles and
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem
most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
10. Since we are all created equal and endowed with the right to
liberty, government (which grants rule to some over others)
is unnatural or contrary to our natures; it is a product of
consent or agreement. To put it another way, while rights
are natural, government is conventional. But, since as
humans we are fallible, might we not err in giving our
consent to a government that infringes on our rights rather
than protecting them?
11. Attribution
1. Second Continental Congress – by John Trumball, 1818 on display in the Rotunda of the United
States Capitol. http://www.aoc.gov/capitol-hill/historic-rotunda-paintings/declaration-
independence
2. Fourth of July parade children –
http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars/2011/07/harvard-
warns-4th-of-july-parades-turn-kids-into-gop-supporters.html
3. Statue of Liberty – by Jeffrey L Sedgwick, 2002
4. U.S. Troops escort African American students from Central High School, Little
Rock, Arkansas, October 3, 1957. Gelatin silver print. New York World-Telegram & Sun
Collection, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (130B)
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/00651647/
5. Photo of police dogs attacking civil rights marcher - Bill Hudson, Associated Press;
Birmingham, Alabama, United States: May 3, 1963
http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Watchf-Associated-Press-International-News-Alab-
/0b77ce78e75a40f885953947257961f7/518/0
