Natural Law in America

 

The most influential principle that shaped the destiny of America was Natural Law. It would shape the minds of the Founding Fathers and would be the driving force for the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War. The Declaration of Independence declared to the world that man would not be governed by birthright or monetary power, but “that all men are created equal.” This document was a culmination of great wisdom and philosophy that spanned hundreds of years and would "set in stone" collectively the principles of Natural Law and unalienable rights to guide future governments in the way of liberty and freedom for two hundred thirty-seven years.

In the summer of 1776, Thomas Jefferson sat down in his rented suite on the second-floor of a building on the corners of Seventh and Market streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with the sole task of drafting up a document that would be sent to King George III declaring the reasons for colonies separation from Great Britain. The colonies had felt that their common rights as Englishmen had been trampled for years. This tyrannical rule could no longer be tolerated by the displaced English in the new world. With the portable writing desk that Jefferson designed himself, he put quill to paper and proceeded to write down the wisdom of old defenders of liberty and freedom from modern and ancient history.

Jefferson was not instructed to develop any new ideas in the war against tyranny, but to articulate and defend in writing how these Englishmen felt toward their oppressive king. According to Jefferson,

The object of the Declaration of Independence was not to find out new principles or new arguments never before thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said before; but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent, and to justify ourselves in the independent stand we [were] compelled to take.

Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion. All its authority rest then, on the harmonizing sentiments of the day, whether expressed in conversation, in letters, printed essays, or in the elementary books of public right, as Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, Sidney, etc. (Maxfield 1983).

            

The principle common on the minds’ the founding generation (yet lost to many Americans), which can be found throughout their writings, was that of “Natural Law.” Educated men of the day were familiar with the histories of the ancient world. As our leaders were attempting to reestablish common law, they were looking to governmental example of the Romans and Greeks. Jefferson was very familiar with the Roman political writer, Cicero (106-43 B.C.). Cicero said that “The only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is Natural Law” (Skousen 1981).

 

The concept of unalienable rights and “that all men created equal” would stem from Cicero’s philospophy of Natural Law. No king or mortal leader’s law on Earth was higher than that of Natural Law. Let us study the main concepts of Natural Law, a law well understood by our Founding Fathers. Cicero defines Natural Law in the following way:

True law is right reason in agreement with nature; it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting; it summons to duty by its commands and averts from wrongdoing by its prohibitions…. It is a sin to try to alter this law, nor is it allowable to repeal any part of it, and it is impossible to ablolish it entirely. We cannot be freed from its obligations by senate or people, and we need not look outside ourselves for an expounder or interpreter of it. And there will not be different laws at Rome and Athens, or different laws now and in the future, but one eternal and unchangeable law will be valid for all nations and all times, and there will be one master and ruler, that is God over us all, for he is the author of this law, its promulgator, and its enforcing judge. Whoever is disobedient in fleeing from himself and denying his human nature, and by reason of this very fact he will suffer the worst punishment” (Wood 1991).  

The Declaration of Independence states that “We hold these truths [Natural Laws] to be self-evident” (Jefferson n.d.). These truths or Natural Law would be the basis for our Constitution and the American way of life. Our “certain unalienable rights, that among them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” were also based off Cicero’s philosophy. Not all of the unalienable rights are listed in the Declaration of Independence, but they should be recognizable to all Americans today. In W. Cleon Skousen’s book, The Five Thousand Year Leap, he describes and lists the twenty-two unalienable rights that are “among” those rights hinted at in the document (Skousen 1981):

The right of self-government.

The right to bear arms for self-defense.

The right to to own, develop, and dispose of property.

The right to make personal choices.

The right to free conscience. 

The right to choose a profession.

The right to choose a mate.

The right to beget one's kind.

The right to assemble.

The right to petition.

The right to free speech.

The right to a free press.

The right to enjoy the fruits of one's labor.

The right to improve one's position through barter and sale.

The right to contrive and invent. 

The right to explore the natural resources of the earth.

The right to privacy.

The right to provide personal security.

The right to provide nature's necessities -- air, food, water, clothing and shelter.

The right to a fair trial.

The right to free association.

The right to contract. 

With review of these unalienable rights, it is easy to discern additional concepts inherent to our American ideals for republican government. The concepts of habeas corpus, limited government, separation of powers, checks and balances, and definitely the principle of no taxation without representation can be derived from Natural Law. 

Taxation and the striping away of one’s property without one’s consent was the violation against Natural Law that was the catalyst to the revolution and the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. The principle of one’s right to property was paramount in the eyes of the Founding Fathers. After all, Providence was the author of Natural Law, and one of His laws commanded, “Neither shalt thou steal” (Moses 2012).

John Locke’s ideals on government and of the right of property would also be an influencing factor to Jefferson’s intention of what “pursuit of happiness” meant. Locke would write about such matters in The Second Treatise of Civil Government (1690) and said,  

IF man in the state of nature be so free, as has been said; if he be absolute lord of his own person and possessions, equal to the greatest, and subject to no body, why will he part with his freedom? why will he give up this empire, and subject himself to the dominion and controul of any other power? To which it is obvious to answer, that though in the state of nature he hath such a right, yet the enjoyment of it is very uncertain, and constantly exposed to the invasion of others: for all being kings as much as he, every man his equal, and the greater part no strict observers of equity and justice, the enjoyment of the property he has in this state is very unsafe, very unsecure. This makes him willing to quit a condition, which, however free, is full of fears and continual dangers: and it is not without reason, that he seeks out, and is willing to join in society with others, who are already united, or have a mind to unite, for the mutual preservation of their lives, liberties and estates, which I call by the general name, property (Locke n.d.).

The principle of Natural Law, which Thomas Jefferson relied upon to justify the American Revolution, spanned over one thousand eight hundred years from Cicero’s time; however, it can be said that since God is the author of Natural Law (according to Cicero) that these eternal truths were the most influential principles to shape the destiny of America. The concepts of the natural rights of man and unalienable rights would create a nation of immense freedom and liberty. The Declaration of Independence would go on to inspire similar declarations of independence from over one hundred countries in the world since 1776. Without these ideals of Natural Law, the world would not be the place it is today.

Bibliography

Jefferson, Thomas. Transcript of Declaration of Independence (Final). n.d. http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/transcript-declaration-independence-final (accessed October 23, 2013).

Locke, John. The Second Treatise of Civil Government. n.d. http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/texts/locke/locke2/locke2nd-c.html (accessed 10 27, 2013).

Maxfield, M. Richard. "The Real Thomas Jefferson." 71. Washington D.C.: National Center for Constitutional Studies, 1983.

Moses. The Fifth Book of Moses Called Deuteronomy. 2 21, 2012. http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/deut/5.19?lang=eng#18 (accessed 10 27, 2013).

Skousen, W. Cleon. "The Five Thousand Year Leap: 28 Great Ideas That Changed the World." 33.95. Franklin: American Documuent Publishing, LLC, 1981.

Wood, Neal. "Cicero's Social and Political Thought." 71-72. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1991.