"He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions."



"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."



So... lots to read through, obviously. But these two particular passages caught my eye as I was reading.



The first I think for obvious reasons. The people writing and proclaiming their independence from Britain on the grounds of his injustice to them (a mile long list, by the way, including unconsented to taxing and forcing his own legislation upon them) are the very same people who in a single breath say, "We deserve to live on our lands and follow our own laws but the natives of this land are not complex enough humans to deserve these rights which we believe belong to all men because all men are created equal and endowed by their creator the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." There's a lot of contradiction going on in there. Read it again. Take your time. I'll wait for you.



The second caught my eye for a very different reason. It seemed, on one hand, such a powerful sentiment while simultaneously such a fragile promise. There is so much to unpack here, I couldn't possibly get through all of it on a post.

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html

And the Constitution, adn teh Articles of Confederation. I'm an overacheiver, I admit it.

Caught up and keeping track!

Read on Oct. 10 2011