The American founders made it clear there was no either-or choice between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, but rather that the two documents must be used simultaneously, side by side. As John Quincy Adams affirmed:
"[T]he virtue which had been infused into the Constitution of the United States. . . . was no other than the concretion of those abstract principles which had been first proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence. . . . This was the platform upon which the Constitution of the United States had been erected. Its virtues—its republican character—consisted in its conformity to the principles proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence. . . ."
A violation of the general principles in the Declaration is just as serious as a violation of the specific provisions in the Constitution. Understanding this, Abraham Lincoln reminded citizens:
"[Our Founding Fathers] established these great self-evident truths that. . . their posterity might look up again to the Declaration of Independence and take courage to renew that battle which their fathers began, so that truth and justice and mercy and all the humane and Christian virtues might not be extinguished from the land. . . . Now, my countryman, if you have been taught doctrines conflicting with the great landmarks of the Declaration of Independence. . . let me entreat you to come back. . . come back to the truths that are in the Declaration of Independence."
The Constitution cannot be properly understood or applied apart from the Biblically-based principles set forth in the Declaration.
Source: David & Tim Barton, “The American Story: The beginnings” 1 ed, pages 221, 222 Wall Builders Press, Aledo, TX USA 2020
