How important is the Declaration of Arbroath..

[ABG0819]

Unfortunately I can't speak to a Scottish citizens reaction to it but as a proud Scottish-American it certainly has that effect on me. I have only been able to read bits and pieces and certainly not in a full context but the bits that I have read give a a tingle in my spine.

Graham

[Highlander31]

There were two things the Declaration of Arbroath did. First, it put the people, and their will, above that of the king. The people were required to support the king as long as he defended their freedom. The minute the king chose a different course, the people were required to remove the king, and put in another who would preserve their freedom.

The second thing the Declaration of Arbroath stated was that mankind has a right to freedom and an obligation to defend it with one's life.

The writers of our Declaration of Independence were influenced by the Declaration of Arbroath. The second paragraph starts out,..."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. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness."

Further in the second paragraph, it states,.." But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security...."

While I cannot speak for the Scots here, I can say those principles laid out in the Declaration of Arbroath changed how freedom was viewed far beyond the borders of Scotland.