When in the Course
“When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for a people to dissolve the political bands that have tied it to another, and to assume among the powers of earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of Nature, and of Nature’s God, entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should provide reasons that impel them to separation.”
So begins the Declaration of Independence. There is a strangely conversational tone to the Declaration, out of place, to modern sensibilities, in a document of such historical significance. (And Jefferson and the signers knew perfectly well they were making history, in contrast to some writings that only take on their historical significance in hindsight. The opening sentence is a long one, and verbose, but no more so than what we can read in personal letters of the later eighteenth century. That was just the way a well-educated man of the Age of Reason spoke. Eventually, it gets down to a formal list of grievances, anticipating the bullet format of many a power point presentation, but the opening is quite conversational, with an almost apologetic tone: “Look, we know we’re engaged in an extreme reaction here. Give us a minute to explain why we think we’re justified, okay?”
How very different from the manifestos of other revolutions! How different, too, the appeal to the common British citizen, as distinct from His Majesty’s government! “We don’t want to make this any harder than it has to be. We can still be friends.” This appeal was written more to a powerful opposition in Parliament, with leaders like Burke speaking out in behalf of the colonies, but it’s addressed to the British citizen at large, and comes across like an attempt at gently dumping an unwanted boyfriend.
Lends new meaning to the idea of a painful separation.