In fact, had the Declaration of Independence been written today, it would have rendered its signers extremists or terrorists, resulting in them being placed on a government watch list, targeted for surveillance of their activities and correspondence, and potentially arrested, held indefinitely, stripped of their rights and labeled enemy combatants. Imagine the shock and outrage these 56 men would feel were they to discover that 246 years later, the government they had risked their lives to create has been transformed into a militaristic police state in which exercising one’s freedoms-at a minimum, merely questioning a government agent-is often viewed as a flagrant act of defiance. The result: our Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution. Even after they had won their independence from Great Britain, these new Americans worked to ensure that the rights they had risked their lives to secure would remain secure for future generations. Yet even knowing the heavy price they might have to pay, these men dared to speak up when silence could not be tolerated. For others, it would be the ultimate price-their lives. For some, their acts of rebellion would cost them their homes and their fortunes. Labeled traitors, these men were charged with treason, a crime punishable by death. No document better states their grievances than the Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson.Ī document seething with outrage over a government which had betrayed its citizens, the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, by 56 men who laid everything on the line, pledged it all-“our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor”-because they believed in a radical idea: that all people are created to be free. It was only when the colonists finally got fed up with being silenced, censored, searched, frisked, threatened, and arrested that they finally revolted against the tyrant’s fetters. However, the scenario described above took place more than 200 years ago, when American colonists suffered under Great Britain’s version of an early police state. If you’re thinking this sounds like America today, you wouldn’t be far wrong. Keep in mind that if you have a firearm of any kind (or anything that resembled a firearm) while in this country, it may get you arrested and, in some circumstances, shot by police.

Imagine that in this very same country, you’re watched all the time, and if you look even a little bit suspicious, the police stop and frisk you or pull you over to search you on the off chance you’re doing something illegal. What we need to do is declare our independence from the tyranny of the American police state. Imagine living in a country where armed soldiers crash through doors to arrest and imprison citizens merely for criticizing government officials.

Declare your freedom