The Constitution and the Declaration: A Comparison

Over the last few years, I've heard many people talking about just how important the Declaration of Independance and the Constitution are as founding, and even governing documents. The fact is that they are both extremely important. Without the Declaration, this nation would never even have been formed. And without the Constitution, we wouldn't have lasted as long as we have. Their importance is a no brainer. What I want to address is what makes them both separately important, and some misconceptions as I see them.

The Declaration of Independance:

Without a doubt, this is perhaps the most important document in the history of our nation. Had our founding fathers not had the courage to write and sign the declaration, we would probably still be a British protectorate. However, it is not a governing document. Boiled down to its simplest level, the Declaration is a letter. A highly formalized letter, but a letter nonetheless. It was written to inform King George III that the citizens of the American colonies were no longer happy being kept under the rule of the British government. It told the king, in no uncertain terms, that they were tired of being treated as though they were second class citizens, and that they felt they had a duty to throw off the yoke of what was, to them, a despotism.

One specific thing I'd like to address about the declaration, since so many people site it as the reason we should be a "Christian Nation" are the references to the christian god and creator. For those who do not remember, most monarchs of the time believed that their power to reign was granted to them directly by God. Hence the bishop is always the one placing the crown on the head of the new monarch. They believed themselves to be anointed by God as the rightful ruler of their land. This was certainly true in Britain. I believe this to be the primary reason why the christian god was mentioned in the declaration.

You see, if a monarch believes themself to be the chosen of God, then the claims of a mere mortal as to their fitness to rule can be seen as nothing. So when the founders wrote the Declaration, they included wording which directly challenged the king's "divine right " to rule. By stating that all men were endowed with certain inalienable human rights by their creator, the founders were, in essence, telling the king that he was going against the will of the very god which had placed him on the throne. In this way, they not only declared that they believed him a despot, but that even God must see him as wrong. This is the reason I believe the framers of the declaration included those passages.

Before anyone goes off the deep end and accuses me of calling the forefathers non-christian, I didn't say that. This is simply my analasys of the reasons for certain wordings. I wasn't there, so I could very well be wrong. But it does seem to make sense to me.

Shall we move on?

The Constitution:

This is the document that actully gave our new nation the framework for its government. It took the lessons learned at the hands of the British monarchy and put them to use to form a representative republic. It established the guidelines for taxation, elections, etc. It is our primary governing document, and all other laws passed by the government were to be held to its standards. It even went so far as to guarantee certain specific rights in order to ensure the people retained their liberty under the new government. The one thing it did not do, and for good reason, was to name a state religion. The founders knew they did not want the church interfering in the business of the state, and did not want its people to suffer at the hands of what would have been, in essence, a theocracy. As such, there is almost no mention of religion in the Constitution. The only places it is mentioned is to specifically prohibit the use of a test of faith for those taking an office within the government. That's not to say the Constitution wants us all to give up our faiths and be atheists. It simply made sure that the church was not a part of the workings of government.

Unfortunately, there are quite a few people who believe that, because of the mention of a god in the declaration, that this nation is supposed to be a christian one. But that just isn't the case. Let's go over my main points one more time.

The Declaration is a letter of declaration written to the King of England and his government at the time. Without it, this nation would never have been formed. But however pretty the words, however formal it may be, it is still, in simplest terms, a letter. It is not a governning document.

The Constitution on the other hand is the governing document for this nation. It is the basis by which all other laws should be measured. It gives us our freedoms and protects us from tyranny and despotism. While the United States would never have existed without the Declaration, it never would have survived without the Constitution.