Declaration of Independence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Declaration of Independence - Essay ExampleCitizens have natural rights that the government cannot bestow or take away. The country was founded by people who believed this idea and wrote the Constitution to forever protect personal freedoms, a concept not reflective of attitudes toward freedom. To what extent personal freedom should be permitted is not the issue. Personal freedoms atomic number 18 an American birthright that is slowly but surely eroding over conviction. Whether or not the American people have the courage to protect and bear upon these freedoms is the real issue. The Founding Fathers displayed courage when they broke away from a tyrannical, oppressive King of England who ruled over the most powerful military at that time to establish a country where personal autonomy was considered the most precious commodity in a society. The seeds of the Founders concept of law and freedom emanated from Britain. The Constitution was inspired by the Magna Charta and British philo sopher John Locke helped to lay the foundation for the Founders deep belief in personal freedoms. Locke defined each individual as having the right to life, liberty and estate (Locke, 1960 p. 448). These words have an almost identical mirror in the beginning paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence written nearly 70 years afterwards 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 satisfaction (Declaration of Independence 1776).