Portraits of Thomas Jefferson and George Mason.
THANKSGIVING FOOD FOR THOUGHT: A NOTE ON THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
Over a year from the date that the Minutemen engaged British regulars in Lexington, Massachusetts, the Continental Congress formed a committee to formalize and to give effect to Richard Henry Lee’s motion that…
“These United Colonies are, of right ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown; and that all political connexion between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”
This committee featured Virginian Thomas Jefferson, who was tasked with crafting the first draft of the formal Declaration of Independence from the Crown. He didn’t have much time and was only a few weeks from the target date. According to Professor Randy Barnett in his book “Our Republican Constitution,” which I quote from herein, Jefferson had to borrow heavily from preexisting writings, a practice that in its day was more tribute than theft. It was not uncommon to use a citation from Cicero or Locke, but he began by utilizing George Mason’s preliminary version of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, a draft of which was created on May 27th, 1776, and which captured fundamental ideas that would carry forward into the Declaration itself;
“That all men are born equally free and independent and have certain inherent natural rights, of which they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; among which are the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining HAPPINESS AND SAFETY…” (Emphasis mine)
The Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4th, 1776, and Jefferson, in the final version, fine-tuned George Mason’s vision with the following Preamble:
“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, and 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.”
John Hancock characterized such a declaration as “the ground and foundation of a future government.”
WHAT WAS THE FRAMERS VISION OF THE CONCEPT OF THE ‘PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS?’
In his work, “The Pursuit of Happiness,” Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the National Constitution Center, examines the genesis of this concept, which found a prominent place in the formative documents of our Republic. Just what did they mean, and why did they highlight this natural right on an equal footing with life and liberty? In 1771, Jefferson compiled a reading list that captured classical and Enlightenment moral philosophy. Works by Cicero and Locke featured prominently. These works, according to Mr. Rosen, all contained the phrase “the pursuit of happiness” and equated “happiness” with virtue and morality and, most importantly, personal growth, whether it be spiritual or intellectual. The Enlightenment was characterized by untethering the individual from the state in an environment of reason and challenging both tyrannical religious and political authority. A citizen would not exist to serve a monarch but would engage in the development of the self and, through reason and personal growth, retain the ability to question government. In a free society, happiness was not considered the pursuit of hedonistic pleasure, but as Mr. Rosen states:
“…classical and Enlightenment thinkers defined happiness as the pursuit of virtue- as being good, rather than feeling good. For this reason, the Founders believed that the quest for happiness is a daily practice, requiring mental and spiritual self-discipline …at its core, the Founders viewed the pursuit of happiness as a lifelong quest for character improvement, where we use our powers of reason to moderate our unproductive emotions so that we can be our best selves and serve others….the classical definition of the pursuit of happiness meant being a lifelong learner, with a commitment to practicing the daily habits that lead to character improvement, self-mastery, flourishing, and growth…”
One might be surprised to know that the Founders were as enthralled with the lessons of Hindu wisdom and Greek philosophers as they were with more modern thinkers such as Locke and Montesquieu. In a free society, living in harmony with natural rights, the individual could thrive through self-improvement and the power of reason. So important were these virtues to our Founders that they were enshrined in the Declaration as a model for governance in the ages to come.
LET’S BRING IT FULL CIRCLE
It is actually very simple. Trade the power of the monarch over property and sovereignty over to the individual who, possessed with natural rights, may thrive. Laws and regulations that intrude upon such sovereignty and the equal protection of the laws are suspect and ought to be stricken. We are entering such an age. The unfettered mission creep of the federal government into our lives and freedoms is the modern equivalent of a monarchy. The Left believes that the federal government must run our lives and issue decrees from the detached reality of the corrupt DC culture on what is best for the individual citizen. Agencies act as quasi-legislatures and run our lives immune from the vote. This Thanksgiving, I will give thanks that Americans again have embraced the guiding principles of the Republic, namely that government answers to the citizen and that any functions of government that abridge freedoms, dictate what is permitted speech, or deny equal protection for political expediency will be dismantled. Trump’s administration, notwithstanding the handwringing of the Left, embraces the Founder’s design. Freedom to keep the fruits of our labors through less taxation, creating domestic job opportunities, keeping us safe from the predations of those brought into this country in violation of law, and creating an environment of safety. The destruction of waste. George Mason thought that “safety” was a fundamental natural right. It is, and we will once again be able to focus on that category of personal growth and the pursuit of happiness that forged a revolution. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Mike Imprevento
November 25th 2024
