Activities

1. Two Divergent Views on Natural Rights

Approximately one century after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, socialist literature espoused the denial of natural rights, supplanting them with the doctrine that all power rests within the State. Laurence Gronlund expresses the prevailing socialist view in The Cooperative Commonwealth:

It (the conception of the State as an organism), together with the modern doctrine of evolution as applied to all organisms, deals a mortal blow to the theory of "Man's natural rights, the theory of man's inalienable right to life, liberty, property, happiness, etc…" These socalled natural rights and an equally fictitious "law of nature" were invented by Jean Jacques Rousseau. Philosophic socialism repudiates that theory of natural rights. It is society, organized society, the State, that gives us all the rights we have…As against the State, the organized Society, even Labor does not give us a particle of title to what our hands and brain produce.

Henry George, in Social Problems, asserts that natural rights do indeed exist:

These natural rights, this higher law, form the only true and sure basis for social organization. Just as, if we would construct a successful machine, we must conform to physical laws, such as the law of gravitation, the law of combustion, the law of expansion, etc., just as, if we would maintain bodily health we must conform to the laws of physiology, so, if we would have a peaceful and healthy social state we must conform our institutions to the great moral laws—laws to which we are absolutely subject... when we find social disease and political evils may we infer that in the organization of society moral law has been defied and the natural rights of man have been ignored.

After reading both of the above selections, please answer the following:

  1. Can it be proved whether "natural rights" exist?
  2. What is meant by "natural rights?"
  3. Besides those mentioned in the Declaration, do we have any other natural rights? What are they?
  4. John Locke included in these rights "property." Was he correct?
  5. Why does there seem to be less emphasis on these rights today than 200 years ago?
  6. With which of the above readings are you more in agreement? Why?
  7. Was Henry George correct in stating that there is a higher law than those made by people?

2. Analyzing the Declaration of Independence

Divide the class into three sections, each section responsible for reading one part of the Declaration The first section reads up through the part ending, "for their future security". The second group begins with, "Such has been the patient" and ends after "in peace, friends." The third section completes the reading.

After they have read their assigned sections, mix the groups up so that each contains students who have read all three parts. Then have them answer the following questions Yes or No.

  1. The colonists declare that there is a higher law than that of the king.
  2. Governments are created by an agreement between God and kings.
  3. The colonists were very critical of the English legislative body, Parliament.
  4. Governments should be changed only when there is a history of abuses and despotism.
  5. The colonists consented to taxes imposed by the English.
  6. The colonies are to be free and independent.
  7. The king has not responded to the demands and grievances of the colonists.
  8. All people have certain basic rights that no leader can take away.
  9. The Declaration of Independence was directed exclusively at the king of England.
  10. The people who will be ruled by a government should be represented in it.

3. England's Reaction to the Declaration of Independence

When fighting began in April, 1775, there were few voices in the thirteen colonies urging independence from England. Prior to the outbreak of war, most colonists seemed to have enjoyed the benefits of their relationship with mother country. Yet, within a matter of months, public opinion had shifted, as witnessed by this important document.

With this in mind, have the class divide into four sections to rewrite the Declaration from the English point of view, stressing some of the following areas:

Group 1 -- General statement why the colonists are not justified in separation: ("When in the to…the separation.")

Group 2 -- British view on natural rights (per John Locke) and their constitutional history (Magna Carta, Petition of Rights, Bill of Rights, etc.): ("We hold there their future…security.")

Group3 -- A list of benefits that the British government bestowed upon the colonists: protection, few the taxes, a market for goods, and economic prosperity: ("Such has been…and conditions,")

Group 4 -- The evolution of British democracy in contrast to despotism around the world: ("In every stage our sacred… honor.")

Within each group, choose one student to write a summary of the ideas stated by its members. After colonists are all four groups have put their comments in writing, have one student rewrite the Declaration, excluding any duplication, and then have this copy duplicated for all students in the class.

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