The Original Intent of the Declaration of Independence

March 09, 2011 by John Fea

Continued from Page 1

These American reformers were in search of a useable past—an interpretation of the American founding that they could employ to promote human rights and equality in their own settings. The original intent of the Declaration was not as useful as the famed second paragraph asserting the "self-evident" truth that people were created equal and possessed unalienable rights.

This kind of historical revisionism continues today among those who uphold the belief that the Declaration is a Christian document. While the Declaration clearly affirms, for example, that human rights come from "the Creator," the original intent of the founders was not to write a theological document, a treatise on American values, or even to declare that human rights came from God. The original intent of the Declaration of Independence was something much more practical. It was written to announce the birth of the United States to the rest of the world.

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Evangelical

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Declaration of Independence

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About John Fea

John Fea chairs the History Department at Messiah College in Grantham, PA, and is the author of Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? A Historical Introduction (Westminster John Knox Press, 2011). He blogs daily at philipvickersfithian.com.

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