Legality of the US Declaration of Independence

American case:
The Declaration is unquestionably "legal". Under basic principles of "Natural Law", government can only be by the consent of the people and there comes a point when allegiance is no longer required in face of tyranny.

The legality of the Declaration and its validity is proven by subsequent independence movements which have been enforced by world opinion as right and just, based on the fundamental principles of equality and self-determination now reflected in the UN Charter.

British case:
The Declaration of Independence was not only illegal, but actually treasonable. There is no legal principle then or now to allow a group of citizens to establish their own laws because they want to. What if Texas decided today it wanted to secede from the Union?

Lincoln made the case against secession and he was right. The Declaration of Independence itself, in the absence of any recognised legal basis, had to appeal to "natural law", an undefined concept, and to "self-evident truths", that is to say truths for which no evidence could be provided.

The grievances listed in the Declaration were too trivial to justify secession. The main one - no taxation without representation - was no more than a wish on the part of the colonists, to avoid paying for the expense of protecting them against the French during seven years of arduous war and conflict.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15345511

What do you think? Was the Declaration justified, legitimate and legal?

 

No, it wasn't legal. No, that doesn't matter. Do I trust my simplicity-biased, elementary-school level understanding of US history enough to be able to say whether it was justified? No.

 

Justified, legal and legitimate to which side?

I mean, you kind of answered your own question.

To the victors goes the ability to say "I was right."

 

I wish we would secede. Take the whole state and move it on the left side of California.
Take away the heat problems.

 

Certainly it was legal. Legality, like history, is defined by the winners. Illegal before the War of Independence, it immediately became legal with the end of the war. The will of the people in the colonies was sufficient to make it legal when they backed it with their military stance sufficiently to make the British accept it. If Texas wanted to secede and could back it up with enough force to wear down the rest of the states, it would become legal once the other states said "Good riddance, and take the Bushes with you!"

 

They aren't ours, damnit!

 

I vote for illegal - Can we just say it never happened and go back to British commonwealth status now?
/drooling

 

Funny, Joniemack! Too bad our histories have too much bad blood. These United States' Declaration of Independence was a power grab, barrow-ly won, but won, nonetheless. Forward came the stuff that sustained it. It seems much more confused lately. If declaring our independence, once upon a time, was illegal then, could it possibly still be considered so NOW?

 

Of course it is legal - I'm just talking from the view of the Commonwealth Games. If the US was allowed into that it would no longer be the high point of 'global' competition for us Aussies.

 

I reckon if Texas fought for their independence from the U.S. and won...then they would legally be independent.

 

From the perspective of those in power at the time, the Declaration was treason, an illegal act. By capitulating and recognizing the United States as a sovereign nation, Great Britain decided not to prosecute. The fact that the Americans of the time felt justified in their treason has no effect on the legal status of the action. So: Justified? Legitimate? The two sides can still argue those points. Legal? Nope. Does it matter? Nope.

 

By "prosecute" do you mean coming back over for a second ass whooping?

 

Who cares what other nations think. A people fight for independence not to appease the world but to attain freedom.

 

Eddie
If you are referring to the War of 1812, you should research the causes of that war. The US, feeling safe that Great Britain was occupied by war with France, tried to make incursions into Canada. When France was defeated, Great Britain turned and retaliated. The sting of the American Revolution may have given them added motivation, but reclaiming the colonies was not primary reason for the war.

"Prosecute" is what governments do to apprehended criminals. Nations do that to traitors, if they catch them.

 

International recognition was the US trump card. It kept the British off its back long enough to get the government, military, economy organized enough for survival. That kind of recognition is absolutely necessary for a fledgling nation.

 

Texas would get a hand from most other States, except the liberal ones who are just after their tax dollars. And I think most of the world would welcome any nation who stood up to the U.S. The U.S. isn't exactly seen too favorably these days, ya know.
--- merged: Oct 24, 2011 4:31 AM ---

That, and the fact that the US was populated by the greatest people that ever walked the earth. The same people who turned this nation into what was once the greatest bastion of freedom on the planet.