Today the integrity and unity of the Declaration of Independence
and the Constitution are under attack by the Progressive political movement.
And yet, writes Larry P. Arnn:
"The words of the Declaration of Independence ring across
the ages. The arrangements of the Constitution have a way of organizing our actions
so as to produce certain desirable results, and they have done this more
reliably than any governing instrument in the history of man. Connect these
arrangements to the beauty of the Declaration and one has something inspiring
and commanding."
From Chapter 2, The
Founders' Key
Dr. Arnn, president of Hillsdale College, reveals this
integral unity of the Declaration and the Constitution. Together, they form the
pillars upon which the liberties and rights of the American people stand.
United, they have guided history's first self-governing nation, forming our
government under certain universal and eternal principles. Unfortunately, the
effort to redefine government to reflect "the changing and growing social
order" has gone very far toward success. Politicians such as Franklin Roosevelt
found ways to condemn and discard the Constitution and to redefine the
Declaration to justify government without limit. As a result, both documents
have been weakened, their influence diminished, and their meaning
obscured--paving the way for the modern administrative state, unaccountable to
the will of the people.
The Founders' Key is
a powerful call to rediscover the connection between these two mighty
documents, and thereby restore our political faith and revive our free institutions.