On the Fourth of July, our nation will commemorate the of its founding charter: the Declaration of Independence. Adopted on July 4, 1776, by the Second Continental Congress, the document, which was then titled “The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America,” announced to the world that the 13 colonies were free from the rule of Great Britain.

The declaration arose from a period of profound strain between the colonies and the crown led by a king many colonists considered to be tyrannical and prone to putting his thumb on the scales of justice. The authors set forth 27 grievances against the king of Great Britain, asserting that his actions had undermined representative government and the fair administration of justice.

In doing so, they articulated a principle both bold and enduring: That when a government becomes destructive of the people’s rights, the people possess the authority to alter or abolish it. The 56 delegates who affixed their names to the document, at least 25 of whom were attorneys, understood their act was considered high treason, punishable by torture and death. Benjamin Franklin quipped, “We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

At a time when monarchies ruled over nations, the United States put its faith in the citizens to govern themselves. In the years that followed independence, the ideals announced in 1776 were woven into the fabric of our constitutional structure. In The Federalist No. 78, Alexander Hamilton metaphorically described the judiciary as the “least dangerous” branch of government, possessing neither the sword of the executive nor the purse of the legislature. The judiciary’s authority, he explained, rests in neither force nor will but in judgment alone. At the same time, Hamilton emphasized that an independent judiciary is absolutely essential to preserving liberty as a check upon the political branches.

Over the course of two and a half centuries, the Declaration has become one of the most widely circulated and influential political documents in human history. Its assertion that “all men are created equal” and “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” has echoed far beyond our shores, both attracting new citizens and influencing other countries to emulate these principles.

Abraham Lincoln, our nation’s 16th president, regarded the Declaration as the moral standard to which the United States must continually aspire. He viewed it as a prism through which the Constitution should be understood and applied. He relied on the principles of the Declaration of Independence in his Gettysburg address, calling the United States a nation “conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Lincoln also wrote about a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people[.]”

To preserve the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence, our founding citizens adopted an intricate system of checks and balances in the Constitution providing each branch with separate powers, checked and balanced by the power of the other branches. The role of the judiciary is to resolve issues which those before the court cannot resolve themselves, not by declaring “winners or losers,” but by applying the rule of law as enacted by the legislative branch, tempered by the fundamental law of the Constitution. The judiciary must remain above the fray and resolve matters fairly, justly, impartially and independently without partisanship, personality or politics. All stand equal before a court of justice.

As we celebrate this 250th anniversary, we recognize not only a historic document, but the lasting principles it sets forth: liberty under law, equality in dignity and a government accountable to the people. The Declaration of Independence continues to stand as a reminder of the courage and conviction of those who signed it and of their belief that justice must rise above power. As we reflect on its words, we must renew our commitment to the ideals that shaped our nation and that continue to guide it today.

John L. Weimer is the chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court.

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