Employees of the National Archives beneath beneath the Declaration of Independence mural by Barry Faulkner, a symbolic depiction of Jefferson presenting the declaration to John Hancock.(Tom Williams/Roll Call/Getty Images)
The Declaration is not the Constitution. But it does have some important consequences for American law.
Today, we celebrate the 250th birthday of our nation, on the grounds that this is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It was enacted by the Second Continental Congress, which immediately thereupon changed its character as a body to become the United States Congress -- as the document itself says, “the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled.” So, let’s consider a question that sometimes arises: Is the Declaration law?
In one simple yet extraordinarily important way, the Declaration has enormous legal significance. It creates the United States of America as a sovereign nation, consisting ...
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