The Responsibilities and Duties of an American Citizen According to the Founding Fathers

We as Americans are so focused on rights to the point of absurdity in our current era, but according to our Founding Fathers we also have responsibilities, or what was commonly referred to as duty. Below is a list of 20 responsibilities or if you prefer duties,  that the Founding Fathers required that we have in order to be considered citizens of the nation, in other words, these were the responsibilities that we as citizens have to the nation that we belong to and if we are unable to fulfill them then our rights are not necessarily protected under the Constitution. These are not the only responsibilities that we are to have and with the exception of the first due to freedom of religion all others had to be fulfilled. Just as one had Natural Rights that were given by God so too did one have sacred duties to one's society.

1) The duty to honor the creator and his laws (read natural law even if you do not believe in God).

2) The duty not to take the life of another except in self-defense.

3) The duty not to steal or destroy the property of another.

4) The duty to be honest in all transactions with one another.

5) The duty of children to honor and obey their parents and elders.

6) The duty of the parents and elders to protect, teach, feed, clothe and provide shelter for children.

7) The duty to support law and order and to keep the peace.

8) The duty not to contrive through a covetous heart to despoil another.

9) The duty to provide insofar as possible, for the needs of the helpless-- the sick, the crippled, the injured, the poverty-stricken. 

10) The duty to honorably perform contracts and covenants both with God and humanity.

11) The duty to be temperate.

12) the duty to become economically self-sufficient.

13) The duty not to trespass on the property or privacy of another.

14) The duty to maintain the integrity of the family structure.

15) The duty to perpetuate the race.

16) The duty NOT to promote or participate in the vices which destroy personal and community life.

17) The duty to perform civic responsibilities-- vote, assist public officials, serve in official capacities when called upon, stay informed on public issues, volunteer where needed.

18) The duty NOT to aid or abet those in criminal or anti-social activities.

19) The duty to support personal and public standards of common decency

20) The duty to follow rules of moral rectitude.