2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble
themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I
will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, meeting
in Philadelphia in the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall),
approved the Declaration of Independence. Its purpose was to set forth the
principles upon which the Congress had acted two days earlier when it voted in
favor of Richard Henry Lee's motion to declare the freedom and independence of
the 13 American colonies from England. The Declaration was designed to
influence public opinion and gain support both among the new states and abroad
-- especially in France, from which the new "United States" sought
military assistance.
Although Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson,
Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston comprised the committee charged with
drafting the Declaration, the task fell to Jefferson, regarded as the strongest
and most eloquent writer. The document is mainly his work, although the
committee and Congress as a whole made a total of 86 changes to Jefferson's
draft.
As a scholar well-versed in the ideas and ideals of the
French and English Enlightenments, Jefferson found his greatest inspiration in
the language and arguments of English philosopher John Locke, who had justified
England's "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 on the basis of man's "natural
rights." Locke's theory held that government was a contract between the
governed and those governing, who derived their power solely from the consent
of the governed and whose purpose it was to protect every man's inherent right
to property, life and liberty. Jefferson's theory of "natural law"
differed in that it substituted the inalienable right of "the pursuit of
happiness" for "property," emphasizing that happiness is the
product of civic virtue and public duty. The concept of the "pursuit of
happiness" originated in the Common Sense School of Scottish philosophy,
of which Lord Kames was the best-known proponent.
Jefferson emphasized the contractual justification for
independence, arguing that when the tyrannical government of King George III of
England repeatedly violated "natural law, " the colonists had not
only the right but the duty to revolt.
The assembled Continental Congress deleted a few passages
of the draft, and amended others, but outright rejected only two sections: 1) a
derogatory reference to the English people; 2) a passionate denunciation of the
slave trade. The latter section was left out, as Jefferson reported, to accede
to the wishes of South Carolina and Georgia, who wanted to continue the
importation of slaves. The rest of the draft was accepted on July 4, and 56
members of Congress began their formal signing of the document on August 2,
1776.
On this the 237 birthday of the great United States of
America let us each take the time to pray for our country and its leaders that
once again we will turn our hearts to God.
Dear Lord, You are the real foundation of our nation,
raising it up to serve and care for the people dwelling within the boundaries. We
thank You for making us citizens of this land of freedom and unlimited
opportunity---which are the result of its Christian base. Send your Spirit to
this country and make it a source of wisdom and strength, order and integrity
throughout the world. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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