July 4th offers opportunity to contemplate ‘Fundamental Principles'
As the Fourth of July comes later this week, we should use this opportunity to follow the advice of the North Carolina Constitution as we reflect on one of this nation’s most important founding documents, The Declaration of Independence.
One of the most provocative sections in Article One of the NC Constitution reads: “Sec. 35. Recurrence to fundamental principles. A frequent recurrence to fundamental principles is absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty.” We tend to get so caught up in the details of political in-fighting that we lose sight of the bigger issues that underlie this Republic.
British political philosopher John Locke was perhaps the greatest influence on the thought of our Founders. Locke, co-author of North Carolina’s Constitution of 1776, established the intellectual framework reflected in our state constitution, in the Declaration, and in the U.S. Constitution.
Locke outlined four levels of law that govern human behavior: Eternal Law, established by and known only to God; Divine Law, the law given through God’s revelation; Natural Law, the law discovered through reason; and, lastly, Positive Law, laws made by humans to govern the behavior of individuals and societies as a whole.
The Declaration of Independence argues that King George III and his Parliament had created human laws that violated the requirements of both Divine and Natural Law. The list of grievances in the Declaration articulates specific instances of how the King and his supporters in Parliament went against these higher laws.
About the only part of the Declaration of Independence most people are truly familiar with comes toward the beginning:
“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. – That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed, – That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it the Right of the People to alter or 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.”
The Declaration’s preamble reflects the principles of John Locke. Instead of Rights coming from government, Rights come from the Creator. People, Locke argued, have rights, such as the right to life, liberty, and property, that exist independent of the laws of any particular society.
Legitimate government and governmental powers are based on a social contract. The people conditionally transfer some of their rights to government in order to better ensure stability to allow comfortable enjoyment of their life, liberty, and property, Locke said. The purpose of government is to secure individual rights of citizens – not run roughshod over those rights.
Each time I taught English 1100, the first Freshman Comp class at ECU, I assigned students The Declaration of Independence. The vast majority had never before read the complete document. Most had read only the first and last paragraphs.
The common reaction from students during our discussion of this document was something like: “Gee, Mr. Parker, according to the Declaration, as long as we are not infringing on the rights of others, then government is supposed to leave us alone. Government exists to allow us to pursue our interests and enjoy our life and liberty.” The discussion of the Declaration was an “Ah-ha” moment for most students.
Locke believed the surest way to thwart the tendency of government to become tyrannical was through separation of powers. For that reason, both the U.S. Constitution and the N.C. Constitution divide governmental powers into executive, legislative, and judicial. The legislative power – the General Assembly in North Carolina and the U.S. Congress for the nation – makes the laws. The Executive – the Governor and the President – is charged with executing and enforcing the laws.
But what if the laws are unjust or become too intrusive. The job of the higher courts, especially the N.C. Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court, is to measure laws against the principles, requirements, and framework of the constitution to ensure laws comply with the highest laws. Laws can be “unlawful” if the courts deem them unconstitutional.
These principles are just a few that have guided our state and our nation for nearly two and a half centuries. These principles have produced the world’s longest running democratic republic. Since the tendency of government by people is toward tyranny, separation of powers is necessary to ensure liberty.
Mike Parker is a columnist for Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.
