The Declaration of Independence, which Abraham Lincoln referred to as the “sheet anchor of the Republic,” set forth the proposition, as he said in the Gettysburg Address, that “the United States was conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
The principle of equality, Lincoln admitted, was “aspirational.” Its implementation would await the arrival of America’s maturity, that moment when the societal, cultural and political forces would accept the legalization of racial equality. There was no invisible hand that would push the nation across the finish line. As with all great changes in a democracy, leadership is required.
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The leadership of Republicans, who envisioned, drafted and secured the ratification of the Reconstruction Amendments — the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments — completed the principles set forth in the Declaration of Independence and made them part of the Constitution. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery, the 14th guaranteed equal protection of the law, and the 15th granted voting rights to former slaves. What Republicans undertook constituted a constitutional revolution, for they changed the nature and face of America. What lay behind this historic achievement, compelling then, as it is now, was the fact that they interpreted the Constitution in light of the Declaration. They embraced the principle that all men are created equal, and believed that slaves and free Blacks were men endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Republicans acknowledged that the Constitution, as it was written in 1787, recognized slavery, which meant that the goals and principles of the Declaration could not be implemented. They were, as Lincoln said, “aspirational.” The 13th Amendment, as debates in the 39th Congress demonstrated, represented the first, crucial step in “completing” the Constitution so that it would reflect the egalitarian principles and values of the Declaration. It extended the right of personal liberty to the newly freedman, which was a function of the principle of equality. The higher, broader purpose was to constitutionalize the Declaration and remove the moral stain from the nation’s escutcheon. It remade the Republic in the image of the founding document. In the course of debates on the 13th Amendment, the great abolitionist, Sen. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, brought eloquence to the moment: “It is only necessary to carry the Republic back to its baptismal vows, and the declared sentiments of its origins. There is the Declaration of Independence: let its solemn promises be redeemed. There is the Constitution: let it speak, according to the promise of the Declaration.”
Sen. Sumner’s approach to interpreting the Constitution—letting “it speak” through the “promise of the Declaration” –was echoed by his colleagues during the debates, as various members invoked the Declaration and the opportunity for the nation to atone for its departure from its principles, caused principally by the existence of slavery. Abolition, it was noted, would permit the practical application of the principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. For Republicans, the Reconstruction Amendments were seen as a means of removing the exceptions to liberty and equality that were marked out by the slavery provisions in the Constitution, and completing the Constitution by squaring it with the Declaration.
As America celebrates the Declaration of Independence in the finest ways — parades, food, fireworks and music — we ought to pause in this time of great political divide and turmoil, and recall what united us, in the beginning. We might focus on the great egalitarian principles set forth in our founding charter and view them, as we should, as the nation’s North Star, worthy then of our devotion, and worthy still.
David Adler, Ph.D., is a noted author who lectures nationally and internationally on the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and presidential power. His scholarly writings have been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts by both Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress. Adler can be reached at david.adler@alturasinstitute.com.
