The Declaration of Independence and the American Creed

On July 6, 2022, Kim Monson presents a special Independence Day broadcast examining America’s founding document and enduring principles. Patriotic historian Ben Martin, a West Point graduate and former Army Ranger, analyzes the Declaration of Independence, while philosopher Doug Groothuis of Denver Seminary articulates the American Creed and defends American exceptionalism against its critics.

The Declaration as Our Primary Founding Document

Start listening at 02:25 – Hour 1

Ben Martin traces the dramatic journey from the battles of Lexington and Concord through the Continental Congress to the signing of the Declaration. He details how the Committee of Five, including John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson, crafted the document that would change world history. Jefferson initially suggested Adams write the declaration, but Adams insisted Jefferson take the lead, citing three reasons: Virginia’s importance in the independence movement, Adams’ own unpopularity, and Jefferson’s superior writing ability.

Martin walks through the pivotal vote of July 2, 1776, recounting the heroic overnight ride of Caesar Rodney, who traveled 80 miles through torrential storms while battling terminal cancer to cast Delaware’s deciding vote for independence. The narrative includes Edward Rutledge’s push for unanimity and Benjamin Franklin’s successful efforts to convince Pennsylvania delegates to absent themselves, allowing their colony to vote yes.

The historian breaks down the Declaration’s five distinct parts: the introduction establishing natural law, the preamble declaring self-evident truths, the transition to facts, the evidence of British abuses, and the formal declaration itself. He emphasizes the four references to God throughout the document and quotes Abraham Lincoln’s description of the Declaration as “an apple of gold” with the Constitution as “the picture of silver” framed around it.

“The assertion of that principle at that time was the word fitly spoken. He’s borrowing this from the Bible, which has proven to be an apple of gold to us. The Union and the Constitution are the picture of silver subsequently framed around it. But the picture was made not to conceal or destroy the apple, but to adorn and preserve it.”

Ben Martin, Patriotic Historian

American Exceptionalism and the Eight-Point American Creed

Start listening at 59:01 – Hour 2

Doug Groothuis, professor of philosophy at Denver Seminary, confronts critics who equate American exceptionalism with white supremacy. Drawing from his forthcoming book “Fire in the Streets” about the 2020 riots, Groothuis argues that exceptionalism is simply a historical fact: no other nation was founded through such deliberate intellectual engagement with the best of Western civilization, classical learning, and Judeo-Christian covenant theology.

Groothuis articulates eight principles of the American Creed: America as a republic based on consent of the governed; recognition of human nature’s potential and weaknesses through separation of powers; affirmation of religious and political freedom via the First Amendment; encouragement of upward mobility through individual initiative; America as a beacon for nations and a city on a hill; commitment to honor founding documents; the possibility of reform without violence through the amendment process; and welcoming legal immigrants who embrace American principles.

The philosopher directly refutes the claim that the Constitution enshrined slavery or considered blacks three-fifths human. He explains that the three-fifths clause was actually a compromise that weakened Southern political power by limiting their congressional representation. The clause prevented slave states from gaining majority control in Congress, effectively becoming what Groothuis calls “a ticking time bomb for black freedom.”

“Those who wish to proceed in that direction cannot lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient than those of our revolutionary founders.”

Doug Groothuis, Professor of Philosophy, Denver Seminary