Applying the Declaration of Independence

Ask a person on the street to name a provision in the U.S. Constitution, and they might not know any. If they do know something, likely you will hear them allude to some clause such as freedom of speech, of religious exercise, of protections against unwarranted searches and seizures, or against cruel and unusual punishment. All of these provisions come from the Constitution’s first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights.

The Bill of Rights was ratified on Dec. 15, 1791, when Virginia became the tenth state to approve those ten amendments to the young U.S. Constitution. These amendments are far from a random assortment of desired protections against government action. Instead, they build from a common foundation, articulating a coherent view of justice and political power.

The Bill of Rights extend from the principles articulated in the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson later called the Declaration, “an expression of the American mind.” That mind believed that justice consisted of human equality, in particular that each person was endowed by God with natural rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Government existed to secure these rights. Furthermore, to adhere to the principle of equality, just governments derived their ultimate human power from the people’s consent.

The Bill of Rights sought to further these principles by guarding individual rights and fostering popular political rule. Regarding individual rights, how can a Constitution set up protections for the natural rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, including the acquisition and use of property?

For the right to life, the Second Amendment is grounded in the concept of self-defense. Yet you only have a right to defend your life if that defense is part of the more fundamental right to life itself.

For liberty, the First Amendment gives special place for religious belief and exercise. James Madison later would say, “Conscience is the most sacred of all property” with the First Amendment protecting absolute freedom of belief and significant freedom of practice. Why? Because we owe God obligations that no government can contradict; for such obligations not only are prior but higher.

Moreover, the Third and Fourth Amendments recognize a right to property against intrusion. The Third focuses on forced housing of government soldiers (then still a raw point against the British government). The Fourth Amendment guarded the property right possessed in one’s person, home, and papers, one that only a tightly limited warrant could overcome.

Other provisions only add to these shields. The Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Amendments contain various protections grounded in the judicial process—the right to confront witnesses, to not incriminate oneself, to a speedy trial, to a trial by jury, and more. The connection to rights is clear: A guilty verdict in court usually is followed by punishment; that punishment takes the form of ending life, constraining liberty, or confiscating property; thus, procedural protections seek to guard against wrongful convictions that lead to wrongful punishments that then are violations of individual rights.

Finally on this point, the Ninth Amendment fends off two potential misconceptions about the other amendments. It declares that the listed protections do not exhaust the rights the people possess. Furthermore, these rights are “retained” by the people, reinforcing that their source was not government but, as the Declaration said, from the laws of nature and nature’s God.

Beyond protecting against government violation, the Bill of Rights also fosters political participation. This principle comes from the Declaration’s claim that consent of equal persons is the ground for just political rule. Yet how is consent realized in a republic?

The First Amendment is the epicenter of this commitment. Participation in political rule, especially in a free regime, requires the capacity to communicate one’s views. Through that communication, persons can be persuaded toward justice and truth. The freedoms of speech and the press foster the dialogue crucial to popular government seeking to know and then act upon justice and truth. The freedom to assemble to petition the government extends from this prior commitment. People should have the power to organize their political efforts toward the good, including efforts that may peacefully criticize those in power.

Finally, the Tenth Amendment also has a crucial place in the Bill of Rights’ broader goals. It recognizes the importance of states for self-government. Local problems demand local solutions. National interference in such matters smacks more of outside imposition as opposed to orderly popular rule.

As America celebrates its 250th anniversary over the coming year, we rightly will focus much on the Declaration of Independence. But let us not forget what came after and in application of it. The Bill of Rights sought to achieve Declaration goals in more particular and concrete fashion. They have helped us seek justice and exercise self-government. For more than two centuries, “We the People” have been well-served by them. In this light, we should be profoundly thankful.