Orrin Hatch: “when Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, he produced an argumentative masterpiece. He announced to a…”

“when Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, he produced an argumentative masterpiece. He announced to a candid world that all people--regardless of their circumstances-- are created free and equal in their natural God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. After announcing these fundamental principles, this great lawyer then turned to proving his case--that King George III and Parliament had violated these principles so repeatedly, and so extensively, that Americans were justified in a revolution that would secure us as a free nation committed to the principles of the Declaration. Though it does not compare to the ringing rhetoric of the philosophical commitment to rights in the Declaration, we should not forget Jefferson's listing of the colonists' grievances--the long train of abuses that justified our revolution against King George. Among those grievances, Jefferson and the Second Continental Congress claimed that the King ``has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their Substance.'' Since 1776, even before our Constitution was conceived of, much less written, Americans have resented their subjugation to unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats. Americans strove to establish an accountable government that left them free to build their own families and livelihoods. King George had fair warning.…”