Tuesday, July 4, 2023
Fourth of July Learning Moment - Foundations of U.S. Business Law
The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
. . .
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
. . .
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
. . .
We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to . . . establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
Words from the Declaration of Independence that protected and catalyzed the development of the laws that I teach. Of course, there is a lot more there than support for self-determined business laws. Perhaps as a result, I rarely have paused to consider the importance of our Declaration of Independence to U.S. business law.
Is the connection obvious? Yes. We all learn about the Boston Tea Party in school, and I worked downtown in the Government Center part of Boston for the better part of fifteen years at the beginning of my career--a constant reminder of that part of our history. But, for me, the connection of the Declaration of Independence to business law has been all but ignored--or at least forgotten.
Today, I am grateful for this part of the Declaration of Independence as well as the rest. We do not always execute our lawmaking freedom perfectly, but our laws are ours. And that's important.
Happy Fourth to all!
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/business_law/2023/07/fourth-of-july-learning-moment-foundations-of-us-business-law.html