The Declaration of Independence is often misunderstood, which I wrote about here. One of the most important, yet overlooked, sections of the document is the list of indictments against King George III. The indictments are further evidence that the Declaration was never meant to be a revolutionary statement. From the Magna Carta to the colonial constitutions, George III was indicted for violating existing laws. Jefferson listed a total of 27 indictments against the King. Throughout February, we’re going to look at one indictment a day, why it was levied, and why it is still relevant.
Indictment #5 reads as follows:
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
Why was the indictment levied: In 1768, Massachusetts suggested to the other colonies that they cooperate in showing Great Britain that they had no right to tax the colonies without representative consent. In response, King George III rejected the communications Massachusetts circulated and ordered the royal governor to dissolve their assembly. This was also a warning to the other colonies: follow the lead of Massachusetts and suffer a similar fate.
North Carolina and Virginia did not heed the King’s warning and suffered the same consequences. The road to 1776 was paved with the crown “dissolving houses repeatedly.” Eventually, all of the colonies adopted the philosophy of Massachusetts, and assembled in popular conventions. While the official houses were dismantled, the groundswell was not, and the acts of Great Britain only resulted in the colonists using the popular conventions to stoke revolutionary spirit.
Why is this important today: King George III disbanded the colonist’s right to assemble. While he attacked the political method of assembly (their congresses), he could not suppress the right to assemble in popular conventions. The right to assemble was ingrained in our eventual 1st Amendment.
In modern times, our government has mercilessly attacked the right to assemble. Our “representative houses” unfortunately no longer represent the interests of the people. Our Federal Government has no real reason to “dissolve these houses.” Instead, the popular conventions have been attacked.
The I.R.S. targeting political opposition. Lockdown protestors being dispersed with pepper spray and Billy clubs. Technology and social media corporations given the taxation benefits of a public utility, while also given editorial censorship privileges reserved for private publications. These are “invasions on the rights of people.” The spirit of the Declaration of Independence recognized that man has the right to assemble peacefully and voice grievances to their government. We have fallen far from Jefferson’s “manly firmness” in his “opposition to invasions on the rights of the people.”