By Sara Rivers

In the Declaration of Independence, the country’s founders made a promise to all colonists that they would be citizens with rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The men, who wrote and signed the document, were educated, wealthy and often slave holders. They never conceived that these concepts would apply to the middle class, women, Native Americans, and African Americans.

They did not see that the promise of full citizenship was deeply embraced by the poor and the landless. Those common folk formed the backbone of the revolutionary army and the civilian population who supported the war.

In the 1860s, there was another war to test who had the rights and benefits of the United States. The Civil War tested the idea of a democracy of the people. The people who fought for it were the poor, the landless, women, free blacks, and runaway slaves. They were hungry for the benefits of democracy.

In the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln stressed our commitment to those democratic ideals. He recognized that this conflict was about whether the United States was to be controlled by the wealthy and landed or whether it was the people’s government – all people regardless of their economics and status.

Lincoln reconfirmed our commitment to democracy. He reminded his audience that many had given their lives that this democracy would not perish. He asked, “ … that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

So here we are again. There is an active threat to our democracy. We are asked to resist again.

Those who would steal our democracy did not see that common folk would rise up to demand that the promise made by the Declaration of Independence would be fulfilled.

So here are the questions before us:

1) Who has the right to full representation in Washington and in North Carolina?

We say that both are governments of the people, for the people, by the people.

2) Who has the right to have the fruits of the government?

We say that the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness belong to all citizens regardless of their station in life.

We claim our rights!

Photos and image from Wikipedia