“Most of the things which are legally just are [none the less] … inimical to nature. By law it has been laid down for the eyes what they should see and what they should not see; for the ears what they should hear and they should not hear; for the tongue what it should speak, and what it should not speak; for the hands what they should do and what they should not do … and for the mind what it should desire, and what it should not desire.”
– Antiphon, “On Truth”, 5th century B.C.
Antiphon felt that excessive ordinance binds the human spirit.
You can draw a straight line through history from these words to the Declaration of Independence.