Where Patriots Rally When Democracy Is Threatened: the Origins & History of Political Principles Contained Declaration Independence

Author Ben McNitt tracts such concepts as the pursuit of happiness, inalienable rights, and consent of the governed from their origins to their inclusion in the Declaration. He also describes the fate of many of those who struggled to define freedom amidst their contemporary backdrop of church dogma and the despotism of kings and princes. War, imprisonment, torture, exile and banishment are the crucibles from which the legacy of liberal democracy emerged. We get the flavor of the Radical Enlightenment through the life and works of Spinoza and of the more influential Moderate Enlightenment in coverage of John Locke and Sydney Algernon. Where Patriots Rally is a breath-taking journey through the West's political development culminating in drafting America's political creed in the Declaration of Independence. The essay closes with a stirring call to those who have inherited this great legacy to rally in its defense against threatening authoritarianism.