Declaration Vs. Constitution

We untangle the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution using plain language and a little sass, so the difference finally sticks. We connect the “why” and the “how” of American government to real life boundaries, values, and follow-through. 
• why the Declaration of Independence is the breakup letter to Great Britain 
• what the Declaration is really about: rights, freedom, equality, and the meaning of “pursuit of happiness” 
• why declaring independence doesn’t equal an organized government 
• what the U.S. Constitution does: rulebook, structure, three branches, checks and balances, federal versus state power 
• why the Constitution still drives laws, debates, and decisions today 
• how the Bill of Rights limits government power over speech, religion, and the press 
• the life lesson: declaration moments versus constitution work 
If you're enjoying this episode, don't forget I've got two other podcasts, Aging Aim for Sissies, where we age intentionally, not quietly, and Unbottled, where we talk about sobriety, real life, and the mess, the messy middle parts and everything, all episodes, updates, everything, live over on my website, Marcybackismedia.com. You can get them where all your podcasts are. So come hang out with me there too. I'd love to see you there. 

Transcript

The Breakup Text Analogy

What The Declaration Actually Says

The Gap After Independence

What The Constitution Does

Why It Still Matters Today

Declaration Moments In Real Life

Not Doing This Anymore

Other Podcasts And Where To Listen

Final Takeaways And A Challenge

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Well, hello and welcome to Inside Marcy's Mind. My name is Marcy Backis, and I am your host. Ugh. What a week. How's your week going? Well, we didn't obliterate another country this week. That's progress for our country. I don't know. Life has been stressful in many ways, but great in many ways. And I hope life is treating you beautifully. This week's episode is going to be brought to you by our book club. We read a book um last month called Our Declaration. And so I thought, you know, a quick lesson on the difference between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution could be fun. Let's see if we can make it fun. It's my intention to make it fun. So wait, these aren't the same thing, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Yeah, they're not. They're just not. And, you know, I'm not a huge person into all of this. It's not like, oh, but this book brought up a lot of questions. And we had a great discussion last Tuesday. And I thought, hey, so why not? So welcome back to Inside Marcy's Mind, where we figure out life, one random thought, one lesson. And this will be a lesson today. And one, how did I not know this already? Moment at a time. Again, I'm Marcy and around here. We are not about perfection. We are about figuring things out as we go with a little humor, a lot of sass, and just enough honesty to keep it real. Okay. So don't quote me on everything I say today. Go ahead and check it out on your own. But we're we are going to talk about it. I want to ask you something. If I handed you a microphone right now and I said, explain the difference between the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, could you confidently answer? Or would you, like most of us do, and go, uh, one of them is old and important and America. I don't know, or just I don't know. Would you know? I I wouldn't until I read this book. I wouldn't be able to give you like specifics. So this episode is the is one of those we should probably know this topics. We should know this. Maybe you do, maybe you don't. If you do, listen, make sure I get it right. You know, you can always email me at uh Marcybackismedia at gmail.com. That's Marcybackusmedia at gmail.com. So again, this is probably should know this, but I don't. Not because we're being tested, but because it actually helps you understand how things work today. And listen, right now, this is a judgment-free zone because I am learning along with you. We're not back in school. This is not a pop quiz, and no one's getting graded. We are just catching up on life. And with as much as going on in the world right now, I think the more we know about our government, the better. I don't want to be ignorant on things, and some things I'm not so great, but we're gonna know this one. The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution are completely different things. But we were taught them at the same time with the same teachers in the same week. So of course we mix them up, and I have. So here's your Marcy version: the declaration, that's the breakup text. Who were we breaking up with? England. The Constitution, that's the new life plan. Why did we need a constitution? Because we didn't have one. And we were kicking out an old government and needing to create a new government. So one is emotional and one is practical. The declaration is the breakup text that's emotional, and the constitution is the new life plan that's practical. And honestly, we've all been there in some version of life. So there you go. The declaration. Let's start with the drama. The declaration was written in 1776, mostly by Thomas Jefferson, who, by the way, was basically the group's designated writer. The document was America saying to Great Britain, we're done. We're not just done, we're done. But we're done, and here's a list. Because yes, there was a list, a long one. Complaints about taxes, control, lack of representation, lack of freedoms, and let's be honest, built-up frustration. Have you ever been there? Well, this country was. The people that were here in the beginning were. And this was their breakup letter with England. That is the declaration. You know, when you finally say something in a relationship and suddenly you remember everything, that's the document. The Declaration of Independence is the document. That is the breakup letter. But here's the important part: the declaration is about ideas, big ones like freedom, equality, rights, including that famous line: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Now you have to remember, that's you have to take that in context. It doesn't mean we get to go out and screw everybody just for our own happiness. The pursuit of happiness meant that you could choose your own religion because in England there was a state religion. The pursuit of happiness meant you could find things in life that made you happy and you didn't have to do what the government told you. You didn't have to have, you had freedom of speech, you could talk, you could have freedom of religion. That's what the pursuit of happiness meant. It didn't mean that you can just go out and be an asshole for your own happiness. This wasn't about logistics. This was about saying we deserve better. Okay. All right. So here's the gap. Now here's what I didn't realize for years. Declaring independence did not mean everything was suddenly organized. Oh no. It was more like we quit our job without having another one lined up. Okay. We quit our job and we had nothing ready to go. Enter the Constitution. The adulting factor. So about 11 years later, they come back and go, okay, we should probably figure this out. And that's where the Constitution comes in. What does it do? The Constitution is the rule book. It answers questions like who's in charge? How do decisions get made? What happens if someone abuses power? Now, it says a lot about that, and we should all be worried about that right now. But I'm not going to get into that, but we should. And mostly important, how do we not end up back in the same mess that we just left? So No King's Day is a hearken back to the Constitution. We do not want to end up back in the mess we just left. And right now the government feels like that's where we're headed. So No King's Day, somebody mentioned that something about Jesus and the King. And it has nothing to do with that. We don't want to end up back in the same mess we just left. And our Constitution helps with that. And why nobody is doing anything is beyond me, but I digress. So I'm going to break it down simply. This is where we get three branches of government, checks and balances, federal versus state power, its structure, its systems, its boundaries. Okay? That's what the Constitution is. Okay. If the declaration is, I'm leaving this relationship, the Constitution is, here are my standards moving forward. And honestly, the second part is the one that takes the work. So why does this matter today? Now you might be thinking, okay, Marcy, cute history lesson, but why do I care? And that's a fair question. Here's why. The Constitution is still what we use today. Every law, every decision, every debate all traces back to that document. My goal in the next few weeks is to really learn more. I'm not giving you that lesson, and maybe I will once I know more. I really want to go back through it. I want to understand it better because I feel like my lack of understanding and the country's lack of understanding is what's getting us in the mess today. So it all traces back to that document. And then later we get the Bill of Rights, which basically says also here's what the government cannot mess with: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of press. All important stuff. Again, the Bill of Rights, freedom of speech, religion, freedom of press are important. They are cornerstones to our democracy. So I'm going to give you a little life lesson moment. Here's your takeaway. And you know I'm always going to bring it back to real life. We all have declaration moments, moments where we say, this isn't working. I deserve better. I'm done. But the real growth, that's the constitution part. That's where you figure out what are my boundaries, what are my values? How am I going to live differently moving forward? Got it? All right. So now my recurring segment: I'm not doing this anymore. All right, here's this week's moment. This week I am not doing this anymore. I am not going to be ignorant about the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. I am going to delve in. I'm going to learn a little bit more. I am not going to walk around hoping other people figure things out, keeping my knowledge at a minimum. I'm going to increase my knowledge. End of story. All right, one last thing. Quick pause here. If you're enjoying this episode, don't forget I've got two other podcasts, Aging Aim for Sissies, where we age intentionally, not quietly, and Unbottled, where we talk about sobriety, real life, and the mess, the messy middle parts and everything, all episodes, updates, everything, live over on my website, Marcybackismedia.com. You can get them where all your podcasts are. So come hang out with me there too. I'd love to see you there. All right. Back to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. So let's bring it home, people. It's not going to be a very long episode, but I hope you've enjoyed it. Anyways, we're bringing it home. The Declaration is the why, the Constitution is the how. One is a bold decision, the other is the follow-through. And honestly, isn't that life? If you're with me and you want to find out more, I really encourage you to re-educate yourself on the Constitution because it's being challenged greatly right now. And I really want to understand. I know it, I can say it, but I couldn't give you exacts. And I want to be out in the world telling people exactly why. So I'm going to do my homework. I hope you do yours. All right, my friends. Thanks for spending this short time. I know it's short, but it was just something I really wanted to talk about. Time with me inside my mind. This is my mind. Sometimes my mind is long, sometimes my mind is short. If something in this episode made you think, laugh, or go, okay, I needed that, then we're doing something right. And I'll see you next time with another thought, another lesson, and probably another thing we pretend we already understood. I hope this helped you out. And for God's sakes, go out and do something positive in this world. We need it. I don't know if I've shared this with you, but I'm going to share it quick at the end here. I was talking with my son about how screwed up the world is, and he said, you know what, mom? I can't change that, but I can change myself. I can be a positive force in the world. I can go out and do things positive to help. And I like that. So do what Alec does. Go out and be a positive force in this world. Thanks for listening. I look forward to hearing from you and talking to you next time.