"How the Declaration of Independence Changed a New Nation"
The World Turned Upside Down
written by Charles Sumner

The obvious result of the unanimous Declaration of Independence of the thirteen British colonies was to dissolve the bonds between them and the most powerful nation in the world. However, there were other effects which "turned the world upside down." They are important for our children to know. For the first time in history the representatives of a nascent nation declared that all men are created equal. They struck down the enslaving principle of the divine right of kings.

Before this time political power had come from heaven. The people were merely pawns of the king and the priest, with their bodies belonging to the former and their souls to the latter. Kings were put in place by God, and to rebel against the king was to rebel against God. Just read the introduction to your King James Bible. Just listen to King James addressing Parliament: "Kings are justly called Gods, for they exercise a manner or resemblance of divine power on earth."

Thomas Jefferson said that to secure the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness governments derive their just powers from THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED. This set the stage for the first secular government in the history of the world. The people would determine their government. Soon they drafted a Constitution which did not even mention God or Jesus and which guaranteed there would be no religious test for public office.

The first words of the Bill of Rights guaranteed that the institutions of church and state would remain separate to provide for the freedom of both - and the right of the citizen to worship (or not to worship) according to his conscience. Government would no longer show favoritism to religion or a specific religion. The people would not have their taxes distributed to support a church. All citizens would have equal standing without regard to their religious beliefs.

The current administration threatens destruction of this principle. We must organize to maintain it. Anything less would be a betrayal of the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.