The Contemporary Nature of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution


 For the longest time, I have been under the notion that the Declaration of Independence, a document declaring that an imperfect government should be done away with, was in stark to contrast to the Constitution, which declared that it would build a more perfect nation. However, when reading Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience,  I was able to come to a better understanding of the relationship between the 2 documents. Don't let the old age English confuse you; the 2 documents are contemporary in their ideals. Thoreau's Civil Disobedience has the line: " I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government." This line seemed to have Jeffersonian tilt to it. Thoreau spends the previous line berating the government for it's faults, and all but calling it a bozo. It's quite similar to Jefferson, who make his arguments and then lists every possible thing wrong with the British's governing of the colonies. Jefferson says:  "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." Thoreau draws from the idea that the government must be altered, and be made a "more perfect union". Sound familiar? That these founding ideas, are so deeply entrenched in our government, is a testament to the greatness of American democracy.

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 25, 2022 at 6:30 PM

    Hey Kaeshav, nice blog. Not only were you able to connect two seemingly different documents with each other, but you even used both documents to form a larger idea of American democracy and the "founding ideas" of it. I also enjoyed the somewhat humorous and casual language that you used throughout the post.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jessie ChangSeptember 25, 2022 at 7:13 PM

    These are some krazy opinions Kaeshav, the APUSH content we learned last year really be hitting it hard now. I really like the way you used quotes from Jefferson to further strengthen your krazy opinion. This was a very interesting blog and I really enjoyed reading this.

    ReplyDelete

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