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HomeCommentaryIndependence Day: Implementing Those Self-Evident Truths

Independence Day: Implementing Those Self-Evident Truths

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Independence Day: Implementing Those Self-Evident Truths

By Pete Haug

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



Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

For 245 years those words have moved humans throughout the world to embrace an ideal not dreamt of by those who wrote them. Most of the signatories of that declaration were landed white male slaveholders. It took 87 years for those words to begin taking hold, as Abraham Lincoln described the effect of “a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

Lincoln acknowledged “the great task remaining before us,” but predicted “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Black lives, other lives, began to matter. The life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness we all are entitled to had begun to be recognized.

A working democracy

Those founding ideals established the most ambitious experiment in self-government ever attempted. Our Constitution was “the world’s first formal blueprint for a modern democracy.” Following George Washington’s two-term presidency, the system began to fray. Political parties competed. By 1800, Congress had to declare Thomas Jefferson winner in a divisive presidential election. Yet this peaceful transfer of power demonstrated that the American republic had “pioneered a successful working democracy.”

Since then, the world has taken notice. Even before the Civil War, Alexis de Tocqueville observed, “The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.” More than a century later, Winston Churchill observed, “No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed,” he added, “it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…”

What the world has taken notice of, however, is not a pure democracy, but technically a constitutional democratic republic. Our Constitution establishes governing principles, such as separation of executive, legislative, and judicial powers. People elect representatives to perform those functions. Legislatures create laws that adhere to constitutional principles. Practically, we call such governments “democracies,” and they’re growing. Pew Research reports that democracy has grown over the past four decades, with 57% of countries larger than 500,000 constituting democracies.

They’re even ranked by an index that describes how well they’re functioning. Although we established the first modern democracy, some nations seem to be improving the model. Certain characteristics, perhaps low voter participation or polarization, contribute to our current lower ranking. The recent upheavals we’ve endured are growing pains. Efforts are being made, both to repair our faults and, unfortunately, to exacerbate those faults. We’ve weathered internal conflicts before and emerged stronger. We’re a work in progress, adolescents striving for maturity.

A world-wide awareness

The 1800s was a time of spiritual ferment, not only in America and Europe, but elsewhere. In Persia, Baha’u’llah, founder of the Baha’i Faith, addressed “the Presidents of the Republics of the entire Americas.” He bade them administer justice, to “bind with the hands of justice the broken” and to “crush the oppressor.”

In 1912, Baha’u’llah’s son ‘Abdu’l-Baha traveled extensively throughout North America for eight months, giving unnumbered talks, often several a day, in places of worship, at universities, and in private homes. While sharing his father’s teachings, he “extolled the American continent” as “the land wherein the splendors of His [Baha’u’llah’s] Light shall be revealed, where the mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled.”

He further “singled out the Great Republic of the West” and declared that its people were “indeed worthy of being the first to build the Tabernacle of the Most Great Peace and proclaim the oneness of mankind.” He promised that this nation was “equipped and empowered to accomplish that which will adorn the pages of history, to become the envy of the world, and be blest in both the East and the West.” Perhaps most importantly, Abdu’l-Baha’ affirmed that America “will lead all nations spiritually.”  He left us this prayer:

O God! Let this American democracy become glorious in spiritual degrees even as it has aspired to material degrees, and render this just government victorious. Confirm this revered nation to upraise the standard of the oneness of humanity, to promulgate the Most Great Peace, to become thereby most glorious and praiseworthy among all the nations of the world. O God! This American nation is worthy of Thy favors and is deserving of Thy mercy. Make it precious and near to Thee through Thy bounty and bestowal.

Pete Haug
Pete Haug
Pete plunged into journalism fresh out of college, putting his English literature degree to use for five years. He started in industrial and academic public relations, edited a rural weekly and reported for a metropolitan daily, abandoning all for graduate school. He finished with an M.S. in wildlife biology and a Ph.D. in systems ecology. After teaching college briefly, he analyzed environmental impacts for federal, state, Native American and private agencies over a couple of decades. His last hurrah was an 11-year gig teaching English in China. After retiring in 2007, he began learning about climate change and fake news, giving talks about both. He started writing columns for the Moscow-Pullman Daily News and continues to do so. He first published for favs.news in 2020. Pete’s columns alternate weekly between FāVS and the Daily News. His live-in editor, Jolie, infinitely patient wife for 62 years, scrutinizes all columns with her watchful draconian eye. Both have been Baha’is since the 1960s. Pete’s columns on the Baha’i Faith represent his own understanding and not any official position.

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