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Newsweek
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
World's Most Important Writing Assignment: Declaration of Independence
It was the most important writing assignment in world history. In May of 1776, John Adams, an accomplished draftsman who penned the state Constitution of Massachusetts (still the world's oldest), organized the committee responsible for drafting the Declaration of Independence. At Adams' insistence, the committee chose Thomas Jefferson, a mere 33 years old at the time and the youngest delegate to the Continental Congress, to do the drafting. Adams chose him for good reason: Jefferson had written a soaring indictment of King George III two years earlier, a rhetorical masterpiece called "A Summary View of the Rights of British North America," which addressed the king's abusive treatment of the American colonists. And the notion of monarchy itself. "That these are our grievances which we have thus laid before his majesty, with that freedom of language and sentiment which becomes a free people claiming their rights, as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate: Let those flatter who fear; it is not an American art. To give praise which is not due might be well from the venal, but would ill beseem those who are asserting the rights of human nature. They know, and will therefore say, that kings are the servants, not the proprietors of the people." Jefferson ended his entreaty with these words: "The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them." The committee chosen to draft a declaration of independence for the 13 North American British colonies is shown at work in this 19th century engraving. The five members are (from left) Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson,... The committee chosen to draft a declaration of independence for the 13 North American British colonies is shown at work in this 19th century engraving. The five members are (from left) Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Philip Livingston and Roger Sherman. On July 1, 1776, the committee submitted their draft to the Continental Congress, which voted on July 2 for final separation, and approved and formally adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4. More AP Photo The tide within the colonies had been turning against King George for nearly a decade with the Townsend Acts of 1767, which taxed the colonists on all kinds of essential products. Worse, the British headquartered customs officials throughout the city to serve as collection agents and enforcers of the latest trade regulations. As King George III got tougher on the colonists, American loyalties further eroded. Things came to a head with the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774, including the Quartering Act. Few people have written more eloquently about those world-altering times—and the cultural context from which the Declaration of Independence was birthed—than Dr. Larry Arnn, author of The Founders' Key and president of Hillsdale College. "What sails into Boston Harbor but ships with soldiers on them. And the soldiers get off and bring writs that they can look in general, and in places without naming what they're looking for," Arnn said in a speech at the college's Michigan campus. "And they bring orders that led to the quartering troops part of the Bill of Rights, which was that they had the right to take over the barracks of the militia. And the militia was the chief defense of the United States. And now their gathering and drilling place was taken from them. And they also had the authority to take over public houses and what were called unoccupied residences. And the person who would judge whether a residence was unoccupied or not was a justice of the peace appointed by the governor, appointed by the king." With that experience as a backdrop, Jefferson went to work, drafting a document that was broken into three separate parts. Arnn described what those three parts were about, starting with the first. It is what you would think the document would be about. It's a legal assertion of separation. And then the signers pledge their fortunes, their lives and their sacred honor to it. You'd think that would be first, because these are wanted men. And they're about to go to war, and they know that to lose it is to be hung, and even to fall into the hands of the British on the street is to be deported and probably hung. So you'd think they'd start with that. You've been bad to us, and we're going to fight you. Arnn next described the middle part, which consisted of the list of grievances catalogued by Jefferson. Because of that list, Arnn explained, the revolution is justified. And the intellectual groundwork for the Constitution is forged. "Good government would not do those things, and must not do those things," Arnn noted. "And those things are the essential elements of what came to be the American Constitution. You have to have separation of powers, you have to have representation, and you have to have a limited government. Those are the main themes of the American Constitution. You have to respect people's civil liberties, and that structure of government is the way by which you do it." Arnn saved the first part of the declaration for last. It begins so universally with the declaration of the rights that everyone has. And its claim is that in any time, people have certain rights that cannot be violated, and those rights are established in what he calls the laws of nature and of nature's God. It's saying that in your nature is written your rights, and that no one may govern you except by your effective consent, that you own the government, and that it may not do anything to you except what you agree that it may do. Here are those magnificent words, words that still echo in the hearts of human beings around the world. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." On July 4, 1965, a young preacher in Atlanta, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., dedicated a part of his sermon to that remarkable paragraph by Jefferson, and to a single word contained within it: the word "all." "It's a great dream," King began. "The first saying we notice in this dream is an amazing universalism. It doesn't say 'some men,' it says 'all men.' It doesn't say 'all white men,' it says 'all men,' which includes Black men. It does not say 'all gentiles,' it says 'all men,' which includes Jews. It doesn't say 'all Protestants,' it says 'all men,' which includes Catholics. It doesn't even say 'all theists and believers,' it says 'all men,' which includes humanists and agnostics." King wasn't finished. "Never before in the history of the world has a sociopolitical document expressed in such profound, eloquent and unequivocal language the dignity and the worth of human personality. The American dream reminds us—and we should think about it anew on this Independence Day—that every man is an heir of the legacy of dignity and worth." On his trip from Springfield, Illinois, to his new home in Washington, D.C., to begin serving as the nation's 16th president, Abraham Lincoln made stops along the way to rally the nation around the Declaration of Independence—and one word: the word "all." Perhaps the most notable stop was Philadelphia's Independence Hall on February 22, 1861. "I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence," Lincoln began. Those words, writers of the day noted, brought the house down. Lincoln went on to mention the word "all" twice in the short speech, adding that there was something in the essence of the declaration itself that gave "hope to the world for all future time." As we celebrate America's 249th birthday this July 4, it's worth telling the story behind the document that not only changed American history forever but world history. And worth revering not just the document itself, but the men of consequence who made American independence a reality.
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tax amendment could safeguard state's small farms
BOSTON (SHNS) – A pair of western Massachusetts lawmakers made an urgent plea to their colleagues Tuesday to allow smaller farms to access property tax benefits currently available only to their larger peers. The state constitution allows farmland to be taxed based on its value for agricultural or horticultural purposes, not for residential or commercial use, effectively providing lower rates to eligible farmers. But the provision is limited only to areas of five acres or more, a threshold that forces many farmers to 'pay much higher commercial rates' for their land, Sen. Jo Comerford said. As a result, Comerford told the Legislature's Revenue Committee, that state constitutional measure now has 'the opposite effect' of its intent to protect farmland and is instead 'contributing to farmland loss.' 'Urban farmers can't find parcels of land larger than five acres. New farmers can't afford to purchase a large farm parcel. Even long-standing farms like Barstow's Longview Farm in Hadley are impeded,' Comerford said. The Northampton Democrat visited with the family that operates Barstow's over the weekend, and said they told her that they pay more in taxes for two acres that do not qualify for the property tax provision than they do on hundreds of other eligible acres combined. Comerford and other lawmakers filed a proposed constitutional amendment (H 71 / S 11) that would eliminate the five-acre requirement and allow any farmland to be taxed based on its agricultural or horticultural value, as long as it has been devoted to those uses for at least two years. The Revenue Committee gave a favorable report to a similar measure two years ago, but top Democrats opted against putting the measure to a vote during the joint House-Senate known as a Constitutional Convention. For the amendment to take effect, the measure would need to be approved at a Constitutional Convention in two consecutive legislative sessions, then ratified by a majority of voters. 'I do not take amending the Constitution of Massachusetts lightly,' said Rep. Natalie Blais, who filed the House version. 'I would not have proposed this piece of legislation with Rep. [Hannah] Kane and Senator Comerford if I did not believe it was necessary. And quite frankly, there's never been a more important time for us to take this step, as our local food system is really in crisis.' Blais, a Deerfield Democrat, cited statistics from the American Farmland Trust project that estimated nearly 15% of Massachusetts agricultural land will be converted to other uses by 2040 under the status quo — the third-highest percentage of any state. High home and farmland prices, combined with climate change threats and the prospect of federal funding cuts, continue to inflict pressure on the state's aging agricultural workforce, Blais said. 'If there was ever a time for Massachusetts to step up and say that we believe in our farmers, we believe in the local food system that we have fought to strengthen and build over the last decade or more, this is really the time to do it,' she said. The proposal won the support of Mass. Food System Collaborative Policy Director Rebecca Miller, who told the committee access to the tax benefit is 'a rural issue, a suburban issue and an urban issue.' Miller was the only other person besides Comerford and Blais to testify at Tuesday's hearing, which committee co-chairs pointed out was the first non-budgetary joint committee hearing of the 2025-2026 term that began Jan. 1. The panel faces an April 30 deadline to report on proposed constitutional amendments. Neither of the committee's new chairs, Rep. Adrian Madaro of Boston and Sen. Jamie Eldridge of Marlborough, indicated Tuesday whether they would mirror their predecessors and support the farmland tax rate measure. Both lawmakers are new atop the Revenue Committee. Madaro last term co-led the Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery Committee, while Eldridge co-chaired the Judiciary Committee. Their panel could be pushed to make difficult decisions this term if federal spending cuts materialize and reshape the state budget. 'I think the work of all committees is going to be increasingly more challenging given what is going on in Washington, D.C.,' Madaro replied when asked if he expects the Revenue Committee to consider any tax code changes to make up for decreased federal funding. 'So I look forward to working with Senator Eldridge and committee members to thoroughly review each and every proposal before us, and I know many of our fellow chairs are feeling the same way.' Eldridge added, 'The financial picture is still uncertain — will there be serious Medicaid cuts? Will there be other cuts to, say, the Department of Education? I think it's still uncertain how that will impact the budget and therefore the work of the Revenue Committee.' Roughly 10 of the committee's 17 members attended the 20-minute hearing. Madaro said at the start of the event that 'all members of the committee are expected to participate in person,' and that remote access was only available to the public and to lawmakers who are not on the Revenue Committee but wanted to testify. He also announced that the committee would make any written testimony available 'at the discretion of the chairs,' with any limitations and redactions of sensitive information 'per committee rules.' Remote participation and publishing written testimony are two areas of disagreement as House and Senate negotiators work to iron out a final package of joint rules governing committee operations this term. The House joint rules proposal (H 2026) would require committee members to be physically present at hearings, while the Senate plan (S 18) would allow lawmakers to participate virtually. On written testimony, the House proposal leaves any redactions up to individual committees, and the Senate measure would instruct the Rules Committee with crafting overarching guidance. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
