Source Analysis paper - Essay Example

However, issues on how to implement the rights derived from the laws of nature came out and were scrutinized by those who voiced their concerns with regards to the clauses in the declaration about freedom and equality such as the upper class elite whites, the working-class white males with properties and those without, females, the slaves, and the native Indians who were pushed on the brink of disappearing. The differences in the ideals and beliefs concerning equality among various members of the public generated questionable governance which further erupted during the civil war, of which such problems as contradicting ideas in running the society, economy, and politics stemmed up from the unyielding of some patriarch-minded people to allow each and everyone in the society the same amount of liberty and justice that white males have enjoyed.

Before discussing the contradictions that lead to issues on governance as stipulated in the Declaration of Independence, the Laws of Nature compared to man-made laws such as those imposed by the British Empire will be elaborated first. Puritan John Locke wrote his ideas on how the Natural Laws were able to shape how mankind thinks through reason, and gives explanation as to why there is a strong need for America to become independent from Britain altogether. One of his strongest arguments is that due to the natural order of things, wherein all people were born equal regardless of status or color, it can be expected that discord will arise from the public once this natural right has been revoked (Fiege 72).

The loosening of the British Empire’s hold over the colonies came up as the result of the violation of the natural law, especially since it treats not just the colonists but its entire population as people of lower status, further causing problems in controlling and ruling both the colonies beyond the Atlantic Ocean and the rest of the British population in general (75). The same can be said with regards to the right of property and life, wherein the British Empire’s strong hold on tax collections from the colonies and of stripping private property to become the public’s were overturned due to the natural law which states that anything a person works for and builds into becomes a part of himself, and becomes his own property (72; 77).

By virtue of the natural law the colonists do not have any obligation to pay taxes to the British Empire since these are all the product of their toiling in their own lands, in a place far away from the mother country. Lastly, the natural right to live independently and in sovereign was invoked, which was mainly due to the growing differences between how the colonists and the British Empire think and manage society. Due to the violation of the rights of liberty and property through threats from the British army and the tyrannical rule of the monarchs, the colonists defended their stance in separating from the mother country altogether by declaring themselves to have a different way of thinking and living, and must therefore be provide for their own safety and security in the process of changing towards a much more independent society and less of a monarchic one (73).

Using the natural laws in explaining basic human needs such as the right for equality, for life, and for