https://wthrockmorton.com/2011/07/04/happy-independence-day-2011/ A [retired] college psychology professor's observations about public policy, mental health, sexual identity, and religious issues Tue, 05 Jul 2011 20:54:52 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 https://wthrockmorton.com/2011/07/04/happy-independence-day-2011/#comment-51249 Tue, 05 Jul 2011 20:54:52 +0000 http://wthrockmorton.com/?p=9600#comment-51249 I was reminded this weekend that some consider the Declaration to be a natural law document because of the allusions in the first two paragraphs. And yet when I read it again on Saturday I realized that paradoxically most of the main points of contention dealt with the common law and the failure of the colonies to legislate such needed laws or the crown to stick to its own laws in common. I think this is the reason many in the northeast looked with scorn on courts of equity which are also associated with the natural law and those courts’ orders from judges not tempered by juries (and thus the 7th amendment of the Constitution).

]]> https://wthrockmorton.com/2011/07/04/happy-independence-day-2011/#comment-75813 Tue, 05 Jul 2011 16:54:52 +0000 http://wthrockmorton.com/?p=9600#comment-75813 I was reminded this weekend that some consider the Declaration to be a natural law document because of the allusions in the first two paragraphs. And yet when I read it again on Saturday I realized that paradoxically most of the main points of contention dealt with the common law and the failure of the colonies to legislate such needed laws or the crown to stick to its own laws in common. I think this is the reason many in the northeast looked with scorn on courts of equity which are also associated with the natural law and those courts’ orders from judges not tempered by juries (and thus the 7th amendment of the Constitution).

]]> https://wthrockmorton.com/2011/07/04/happy-independence-day-2011/#comment-51248 Mon, 04 Jul 2011 15:11:49 +0000 http://wthrockmorton.com/?p=9600#comment-51248 The “merciless Indian savages” were upset the colonists were taking land that the crown had promised they could keep.
BTW ‘domestic insurrection’ quite likely referred to slaves petitioning the royal governors for freedom in exchange for them supporting the crown in Massachusetts and Dunmore’s proclamation in 1775 in Virginia offering freedom for slaves of rebels if they fought for the crown. A fair number of slaves did fight for the crown. Article 7 of the Treaty of Paris forbade the British from “carrying away any Negros or other property of the American inhabitants”. Fortunately for many of the runaway slaves who did enlist and their families several of the British officers ignored this provision and allowed them to leave with the rest of the army (many ended up in Nova Scotia with other loyalists [and also with the slaves that belonged to loyalist slaveholders and who were not freed then and some eventually in Sierra Leone). Others weren’t so lucky.

]]> https://wthrockmorton.com/2011/07/04/happy-independence-day-2011/#comment-51247 Mon, 04 Jul 2011 12:51:51 +0000 http://wthrockmorton.com/?p=9600#comment-51247 apparently “merciless Indian savages” also makes an appearance. …also, i went to a christian private school and was only taught about taxation without representation as barton claims.

]]> https://wthrockmorton.com/2011/07/04/happy-independence-day-2011/#comment-77467 Mon, 04 Jul 2011 11:11:49 +0000 http://wthrockmorton.com/?p=9600#comment-77467 The “merciless Indian savages” were upset the colonists were taking land that the crown had promised they could keep.
BTW ‘domestic insurrection’ quite likely referred to slaves petitioning the royal governors for freedom in exchange for them supporting the crown in Massachusetts and Dunmore’s proclamation in 1775 in Virginia offering freedom for slaves of rebels if they fought for the crown. A fair number of slaves did fight for the crown. Article 7 of the Treaty of Paris forbade the British from “carrying away any Negros or other property of the American inhabitants”. Fortunately for many of the runaway slaves who did enlist and their families several of the British officers ignored this provision and allowed them to leave with the rest of the army (many ended up in Nova Scotia with other loyalists [and also with the slaves that belonged to loyalist slaveholders and who were not freed then and some eventually in Sierra Leone). Others weren’t so lucky.

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