Life, Liberty And The Pursuit Of Happiness
Every nation derives meaning and purpose from some unifying quality—an ethnic character, a common religion, a shared history. The United States is different. America was founded at a particular time, by a particular people, on the basis of particular principles which are person and political freedom, equality, and government limitation.
One great Principle which helps build the US is personal and political freedom. American founding fathers believed 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. It’s to secure these rights — governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed …show more content…
I think legal equality and equality of opportunity is the one of the most importance principle in the US constitution. The Declaration begins with those words “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. 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.” (Jefferson, 1776, p.11).
When Thomas Jefferson wrote that "all men are created equal,” He knew that humans obviously differ in many characteristic and attributes. So what do the founding fathers really mean by equality? They meant that humans are equal in the life and liberty they are born with and deserve to keep. As stated in the first sentence of the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776, “all men are by nature equally free and independent." (West & Jeffrey, 2008, …show more content…
The founding fathers understood from their experience with the king of England that government by law should be divided in three distinct powers. Placing all three powers in the same hands is, according to Madison in the federalist 47, the very definition of tyranny, because there would be no external or internal checks on the power of government. Men are not perfect, whether they are in the government or out of it (West & Jeffrey, 2008). There is no one on earth who can be trusted with all the power of government to itself. So the framers had this idea of a written constitution which would check and limit the power of the government from without having distinct legislative, executive, and judicial power of government would check and limit it from
One great Principle which helps build the US is personal and political freedom. American founding fathers believed 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. It’s to secure these rights — governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed …show more content…
I think legal equality and equality of opportunity is the one of the most importance principle in the US constitution. The Declaration begins with those words “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. 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.” (Jefferson, 1776, p.11).
When Thomas Jefferson wrote that "all men are created equal,” He knew that humans obviously differ in many characteristic and attributes. So what do the founding fathers really mean by equality? They meant that humans are equal in the life and liberty they are born with and deserve to keep. As stated in the first sentence of the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776, “all men are by nature equally free and independent." (West & Jeffrey, 2008, …show more content…
The founding fathers understood from their experience with the king of England that government by law should be divided in three distinct powers. Placing all three powers in the same hands is, according to Madison in the federalist 47, the very definition of tyranny, because there would be no external or internal checks on the power of government. Men are not perfect, whether they are in the government or out of it (West & Jeffrey, 2008). There is no one on earth who can be trusted with all the power of government to itself. So the framers had this idea of a written constitution which would check and limit the power of the government from without having distinct legislative, executive, and judicial power of government would check and limit it from