The Consent of the Governed
October 18, 2025
“A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.”
~ From the 27 grievances listed in the United States Declaration of Independence
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,…”
Thus begins the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, the document that founded our United States of America. In the section following the Preamble, the document details a list 27 grievances regarding the actions and decisions of King George III with regard to the colonies in North America. I suggest you take a few moments to read each item on this list. A striking number of these, in fact, too many of these, are not just relevant to current events, but could have been written for our times specifically. I have highlighted just some of these with bold font:
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.”
Adopted unanimously by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.
You can read the entire document here.
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July 4, 2026 will be 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In the meantime, celebrate November 4, 2025 by exercising your right to vote and making a batch of Red, White and Blueberry Biscotti.
Red, White and Blueberry Biscotti
These traditional-with-a-twist biscotti make a lovely gift from your kitchen. Use eggs from happier and healthier hens: if possible, choose cage-free or pastured.
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dried organic blueberries
1/2 cup dried organic cherries or cranberries
1 (12 oz) pkg white chocolate chunks (24% cacao), for dipping
Preheat the oven to 350°F
Grease a large, rimmed baking sheet with butter or line with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, using a large fork or an electric mixer on low, combine the sugar and butter until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla and cinnamon and blend about 30 seconds more, or until combined. Set aside.
In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the bowl with the sugar/egg/butter mixture and beat until combined. Fold in the dried fruit.
Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet (you might want to dust your fingertips with a little flour as the dough can be sticky). Shape the dough into a log, then flatten into a 4-inch wide strip. Bake the strip, rotating the baking sheet halfway through cooking time, until browned and set, about 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the strip to a cooling rack and cool for about 15 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F
Transfer the strip to a work surface. Using a serrated knife, cut strip into slices (as if slicing a loaf of bread) about 1/3-inch thick. Arrange the slices, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake the slices, rotating the baking sheet halfway through cooking time, until crisp, about 20 minutes. Transfer the slices to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
To dip in white chocolate:
Melt white chocolate chunks over low heat in a small, heavy saucepan, stirring, until smooth and creamy. Dip end of each biscotto into the chocolate and return to the cooled baking sheet to harden. You can put the tray into the fridge for ten minutes or so to speed up the hardening of the chocolate if the weather is warm.
Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Makes about 18 biscotti
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