It’s what my copy looks like.

At Thanksgiving,  I wandered into my childhood bedroom, which is largely a guest room now, and flipped the light switch on the wall. Then I paused and looked at something that hadn’t changed about the room, and that I hadn’t looked at or thought about in a while.  My replica of The Declaration of Independence. That I paused here and looked, was a habit of my childhood. This document kicked off a love of Democracy, Equality, Justice, American History, calligraphy, and old documents in general.

Now you may find this strange, but in my old bed room, just past the door frame about 2 feet, is a short wall with an unframed replica of the Declaration of Independence, thumbtacked to the right of the only light switch. On the left side of the light switch is (and has always been) a current calendar. Draw your own conclusions here. But I think this set up was probably pretty typical of how early Americans saw their world. I also think there’s some weird subtext about light and early American values, but let’s not go there right now.

When I got home, I started watching Ken Burn’s The American Revolution. Honestly, there’s not much I don’t know about the American Revolution because it was an area of study back in the day, so for me, the compressed story lines of various characters are fine. Sure I read a 400 pg biography of Arnold, and Arnold gets like 5 min air time across 3 episodes. But it’s really all they could do. I found the use of maps and drawing and portraits and headless/faceless people tramping through the countryside an interesting way to bring things alive. They did a good job in showing the actual diversity of the peoples and their motivations for engaging (or not) in revolution.

Start the Revolution without me. 

Did they miss a lot of interpersonal drama that had big impacts on the war? Yep. But If I had one issue I’d flag, it’d be the fact that all 6 episodes, 12 hrs, were narrated by the same person, Peter Coyote,  a white man. I like Peter Coyote. He’s a great narrator. He has that grandfather telling a story vibe. But, given the content of the series, it would have made more sense and have been more accurate and more reflective of the period to have a white woman, a black man, a black woman, a Native American man, and a Native American woman each narrate one episode. These were all people/groups involved.

 Isn’t part of the problem we have today, a lack of understanding of our own origin story? People walk around with weird versions of us based on a false narrative that the American Revolution was just about/for by/involving white english-speaking protestant men and their issue. Why use only one race or gender of narrator to tell the story of the great diversity of Americans? Maybe when they reboot it in 20 years they can dub over episodes 2 through 6.

That said, back to the Declaration of Independence.  Most people alive today, including most Americans, have never read it. And because of that, they don’t really understand what it is, other than an excuse to BBQ on July 4th. So, here’s the short answer. The Declaration of Independence was written to explain to the world (not other American colonists), why we (British subjects at the time) had a right (even a duty) to reject British rule (by force if need be) and set up our own form of government. 

Independence? Is this what’s in pamphlets young people are reading these days?

Hence the opening line: “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 the ending “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

Needless to say, the Declaration gets pretty shirty from there. It goes on to list 27 points of grievance that form the colonists’ evidence as to why they are under a despotic govt – ie, one that does not recognize the equality of all people [colonists in this case] and operates in such a way that it intentionally deprives some people [colonists in this case] of  life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness, and does so without the consent of the governed [colonists in this case]. These grievances are also a list of means King George III (Britain) uses to establish its “tyranny” over the colonists.

I’m just going to share some here, with modern examples.

“He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.  [This would be refusing to fund all the govt bodies, FEMA, NOAA, USAID, all the things Congress – who represents the people – said should be funded]“He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. [This would be asking governors to create more favorable voter districts so he can control the Congress against the will of the people]“He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness of his invasions on the rights of the people. [This would be refusing to call the people’s House into session because one would have to swear in a representative of the people who’d sign a bill that would release files related to a pedophile, and identifying close associates of said pedophile, mentioned in said files. ] George III.  When your taxes go to mad leaders who like gold? Just walk away.“He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither. …. [This would be trying to overturn birthright citizenship or failing to create paths to legal immigration or deal with illegal immigration in lawful ways.]“He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers. [Think court stacking, or using the DOJ/SCOTUS as your personal lawyer/stamp of approval]“He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. [Frankly, threatening to primary elected representatives is the same thing] People in uniforms with military grade weapons, aren’t in your town to protect you.“He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance. [Think DOGE, and all the AI bros getting your “private” information from the govt, as well as free water and electricity that’s hiking your rates through the roof, even though you don’t want AI which is literally killing your children, but you know, is given 10 years of no regulation because AI bros are such good donors and American kids are “replaceable” NPCs to them.]“He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. [This would be ICE, or the now-armed National Guard]“He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power. [This would be what brought down Nixon in part. But that was when there was Congress that stood as a check and balance. Sinking boats of “suspected” foreign narcotics smugglers, and then going back and assassinating the shipwrecked so they can never testify at the trial they will never get for the crime they never did. All without any Congressional approval] Of course, I’ve read Thomas Payne. Have you?“He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: [DOGE, Russia, Project 2025….]“For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: [Check]“For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: [Check]“For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: [Tariffs – Check]“For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: [Tariffs – Check]“For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury: [Check]“For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences: [in this case prisons in El Salvador- Check]“For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:“For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: [Check]“For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. [See, Project 2025 checklist and the list of presidential executive orders]“He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us [Check], . . .“. . . A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” [Check] Men who want to be king, are always the sort of men who never should be. On the other hand, men who want to be Queen? I like Freddie Mercury. I don’t have a problem with that.

Obviously, even with a cursory reading of the Declaration, there are parallels one could draw today.  If one happened to read the 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS) of the United States of America released a couple nights ago, it’s not a secret that the current US administration is not interested in furthering the America that the Founders aspired to design and endeavored to set on the road to creation. In fact, just the opposite. They seem to desire every point of tyranny the Founders rejected and long to be despots not just over the US but all countries in same hemisphere. They want to be George III + Empire. It’s a strange time to be American to be sure.

So, the Declaration of Independence. Still important. Still needed. Get yourself a copy. Pin it to your wall. Read it. It’s very clarifying. I used to laugh when I’d hear new reports talking about loyalists. I don’t anymore. It’s an accurate description. People who are Loyalists, capital L, are loyal to a king/person, not a country or its ideals. It’s interesting that Washington, who was never publicly “emotional,” thought Loyalists to be arch traitors (pro-tyrant) and got very whipped up about them.  Which is quite shocking, given Washington had ordered Americans to treat the Hessians (German soldiers) as victims of tyranny (their king rented them to the British for use) even though they had committed some of the worst crimes against the American people.

I don’t know what the Founders would make of the US today. I suspect they’d be pretty shocked by the basic illiteracy – the lack of reading. The disregard for education and science. The attacks on free speech and free assembly. The elevation into the public sphere of performative religion rather than leaving true faith free to elevate the private conscience as one saw fit. Yeah, there’s a lot I think they’d be upset about, tyranny wise.  But I think they’d be most concerned that no one bothered to read their country’s own Declaration of Independence or think about it. 

Americans often attempt serious discussion, but tend to fail in multiple ways on multiple levels. (Art Meme Central).

We spend a lot of time discussing the Constitution, and that is to be expected. It is the foundation of our laws. But I would argue it’s not the foundation of our nation or our ideals. The Declaration of Independence is our Country’s founding document. It’s us, declaring us a country. It’s us telling the world, what we won’t stand for from any government, including ones we form ourselves. It’s a line in the sand that says, cross this line, and human beings are justified in, have a right to, have a duty, to walk away and form another government. It’s a well-argued but “not for the feint of heart” sort of document. And that may be why not a lot of people read it. 

If people really sat down and read it (or had it read to you)  – the way all the early Colonists did. If people really thought about what it says they are entitled to expect from their government as an American, . . . And if you’re in the Government, reading this document you might have a rude awakening that people you think are “not your voters” or worse “your subjects,” whose opinions don’t matter to you, actually matter a lot more than you might think. US citizens should know what the Declaration of Independence says, if only to remind them of what a tyrant does to earn that title and know how to spot a tyrant in the wild. And, too, citizens should read it – all the way to the end – to discover the name of the woman who printed the first full Declaration with signatory names, including her own, and thereby made the Declaration that she too was an on-the-record independent American.