Kentuckians, would you sign the Declaration of Independence today? | Opinion

Would you sign the Declaration of Independence? That is the question posed on the website site of the National Archives: “If you had been a member of the Second Continental Congress in 1776, you were a rebel and considered a traitor by the King. You knew that a reward had been posted for the capture of certain prominent rebel leaders and the largest British armada ever assembled was just outside New York harbor. Affixing your name to the document meant that you pledged your life, your fortune, and your sacred honor to the cause of freedom.”

Would you sign the Declaration today? That is also the question that Gathering for Democracy, a group dedicated to protecting American democracy, asked people on Saturday, June 14, at the Lexington No Kings Rally. The answer was overwhelmingly yes, and people lined up at the GFD table to sign. By the end of the rally, approximately 500 folks had signed.

Signing the Declaration in 1776 was dangerous. As Ben Franklin said to John Hancock at the signing on July 4, 1776, “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”

Why did the 56 signers undertake this risk? In short, they had tired of the tyranny of the British monarch over many decades. The document listed 27 grievances with the actions and decisions of the King, including refusing to acknowledge the Colonies’ right to pass legislation, often dissolving colonial legislatures; retaining the sole power to appoint and compensate judges; keeping standing armies among the people in times of peace without the consent of their legislatures; cutting off colonial trade with other countries; imposing taxes without the consent of the colonists; and, depriving citizens of jury trials.

Many of these grievances resonate today given news of the use of the military to stifle peaceful protests, the pressure on the judiciary to accede to the Executive Branch and the imposition of tariffs that will hurt millions of businesses and workers.

The drafters, however, listed their grievances only after making it clear that the King could not take away rights possessed by all people from birth. In its most famous passage, the Declaration states that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

We live in times in which the basic rights proclaimed in the Declaration and enacted into law by the U.S Constitution are under attack from within. We see the military used to control if not squelch peaceful protest; we see immigrants, many of whom are here legally, taken away and imprisoned without due process; we see major newspapers and news organizations shying away from reporting unfavorable news about the Trump administration; we see efforts to pass laws that will make it much harder to vote. No longer can we assume we will always have the rights proclaimed by our Founders, at great personal risk, 250 years ago. Therefore, it is incumbent upon all Americans to reaffirm and commit to the principles proclaimed by the Declaration of Independence.

Gathering for Democracy plans to continue this project so that people can demonstrate their personal commitment to these principles by signing the Declaration. We plan to have the Declaration available for your signature at our table at the Woodland Art Fair, August 16-17, and at future local events. We invite you to add your name to the cause of liberty and government by the people.

Rena Wiseman, a native of Lexington, is a retired attorney and member of Gathering for Democracy.