Is the US Declaration of Independence illegal? (BBC)

PatGund · **Posted:** Thu Oct 20, 2011 8:27 pm

Maybe this should go in the international section.....

Is the US Declaration of Independence illegal?

Quote:

"Was the Declaration of Independence legal?

In Philadelphia, American and British lawyers have debated the legality of America's founding documents.

On Tuesday night, while Republican candidates in Nevada were debating such American issues as nuclear waste disposal and the immigration status of Mitt Romney's gardener, American and British lawyers in Philadelphia were taking on a far more fundamental topic.

Namely, just what did Thomas Jefferson think he was doing?"

Mikedunford · **Posted:** Thu Oct 20, 2011 8:39 pm

PatGund wrote:

Maybe this should go in the international section.....

Is the US Declaration of Independence illegal?

Quote:

"Was the Declaration of Independence legal?

In Philadelphia, American and British lawyers have debated the legality of America's founding documents.

On Tuesday night, while Republican candidates in Nevada were debating such American issues as nuclear waste disposal and the immigration status of Mitt Romney's gardener, American and British lawyers in Philadelphia were taking on a far more fundamental topic.

Namely, just what did Thomas Jefferson think he was doing?"

I think the Ben Franklin from the musical 1776 dealt with that issue quite nicely:
"A rebellion is always legal in the first person, such as "our rebellion." It is only in the third person - "their rebellion" - that it becomes illegal."

Whatever4 · **Posted:** Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:02 am

From PatGund's link:

Quote:

A vote at the end of the debate reaffirmed the legality of Jefferson and company's insurrection, and the American experiment survived to see another day.

:::Whew!::: That was close. =D>

Sterngard Friegen · **Posted:** Fri Oct 21, 2011 1:07 am

Was the Declaration of Independence illegal? is one of those questions you can only answer retrospectively. If we had lost the Revolutionary War then the answer would be "no." Since we won, the answer was "yes."

Funny that a legal decision changes based on a military outcome.

But that's the way it's been since the beginning of time. The winners write history. The losers fade away.

Reality Check · **Posted:** Fri Oct 21, 2011 6:06 am

Did you mean the opposite Stern?

I have read that some contemporaries thought the Constitution was illegal when written because Congress only passed authorization for the committee revise the Articles of Confederation but the writers went beyond that and threw it out completely and started over.

Sterngard Friegen · **Posted:** Fri Oct 21, 2011 9:37 am

Reality Check wrote:

Did you mean the opposite Stern?

I have read that some contemporaries thought the Constitution was illegal when written because Congress only passed authorization for the committee revise the Articles of Confederation but the writers went beyond that and threw it out completely and started over.

Declaration of Independence =/= Constitution

Falsehoods unchallenged only fester and grow.

Is the US Declaration of Independence illegal? (BBC)

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