The Declaration begins with a ringing statement of authority: that of “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” This isn’t the passivity of Hobbes or Augustine or Luther with regard to the value of the current regime. This is the unification of ancient natural law with the force of Biblical drive. It is an active statement that men can take power into their own hands so long as that power is utilized in pursuit of the natural law, and in accordance with the human right to liberty. Jefferson quickly makes that clear. “We hold these truths to be self-evident,” he writes. But clearly such truths
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