-Caveat Lector- ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Claremont Institute Precepts: Trenton's Battle of Principle, Part 1 Date sent: Tue, 15 Jun 1999 16:49:14 -0700 The Claremont Institute--PRECEPTS | | June 15, 1999 Visit <http://www.claremont.org> | | No. 174 This week in the state of New Jersey, a controversy has broken out that exhibits for all to see the choice before the American people. It concerns simply this: shall our children be taught to know and respect the founding instrument of our country? The lower house of the New Jersey legislature has just passed a bill that would require public school students to recite two sentences from the Declaration of Independence each morning with the Pledge of Allegiance. The students would say: "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. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." These two sentences describe both in time and in principle the foundation of our country. They are the origin and the purpose, the alpha and the omega, of our nation. And today, they are controversial. Nia Gill, a member of the New Jersey house, led the opposition. She said: "At the time these words were written only white men, and only white men with property, were perceived to be the beneficiaries of these words." In this and the coming two Precepts, we will demonstrate three things beyond any question. First, that the statement by Ms. Gill is false as regards women. Second, that Ms. Gill's statement that the Declaration covered only white men is false, and her rejection of it on that ground is also illogical. And third, that the rejection of what the liberal intelligentsia says about the Declaration is simply necessary to the proper education of children, and also to the preservation of free government. First, let us see that Ms. Nia Gill has stated a falsehood. Let us look at the record. It is unambiguous. It is found in particular right there in the state of New Jersey. For in New Jersey, under the influence of the Declaration, women were given the vote. It happened there, right in New Jersey, for the first time in history, at the time of the Revolution. This practice followed upon the language of the New Jersey Constitution of 1776 (the same year as the Declaration) that permitted all "inhabitants" with fifty pounds in property and 12 months residence to vote. And women did vote there in large numbers. See the discussion of this in the fine book, sponsored by the Claremont Institute, _Vindicating the Founders: Race, Sex, Class and Justice in the Origins of America._ If this is true, you may wonder, why does the Declaration say "all men are created equal"? That is because in English, the masculine pronoun is also the generic. At the same time this expression was used, Alexander Hamilton wrote that "natural liberty is a gift . . . to the whole human race." Others wrote constantly, and interchangeably, of the "rights of human nature" and the "rights of man." We do not expect Nia Gill or her friends to know the history of New Jersey, or the meaning of the principles of the Declaration, or the history or meaning of anything else important for that matter. If Nia Gill is like the people who have invented these falsehoods about the Declaration, then she has an agenda that does not rest upon truth. That agenda is rather to remove the principles of the Declaration from their rightful authority in our national life. They have adopted in their place new principles that regard the human being as subject to the state, and justifying the state in a vast bureaucratic project that breaks the bounds of limited government. But more on that to follow. Sincerely, Larry P. Arnn President The Claremont Institute ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 1999 The Claremont Institute To subscribe to Precepts, go to: http://www.claremont.org/subscrib.cfm , or e-mail us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] . To be removed from this list, go to : http://www.claremont.org/remove_public.cfm , or e-mail us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] . For general correspondence or additional information about the Claremont Institute, e-mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] , or visit our website at : http://www.claremont.org . Changing your e-mail address? Please let us know at : [EMAIL PROTECTED] . For press inquiries, contact Nazalee Topalian at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or (909) 621-6825. The mission of the Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy is to restore the principles of the American Founding to their rightful, preeminent authority in our national life. The Claremont Institute | 250 West First Street | Suite 330 | Claremont, CA 91711 | Phone (909) 621-6825 | Fax (909) 626-8724 A<>E<>R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller, German Writer (1759-1805) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." Universal Declaration of Human Rights + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. 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