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Happy birthday to a country created by rebels

My Thoughts

Dr. Bill Atwood

(Updated: Thursday, July 01, 2010, 2:57 PM)

On an unusually mild summer Thursday afternoon in 1776, a rather small group of men made a giant step for freedom loving people when they approved the text of the Declaration of Independence which was written by Thomas Jefferson.

The Continental Congress had actually voted for the separation from England two days earlier -- July 2 -- when Richard Henry "Lighthorse" Lee had introduced it which was the day that John Adams thought should be celebrated as Independence Day.

Nevertheless, the adoption of the text took place on July 4 and that date being on the document pretty much cemented the fact that Americans would celebrate July 4 as the date of our national birth.

It has been 85,468 days since our nation, which was born of adversity, came into being.

This noble experiment in liberty was different from any other to that point in history. Never before had a group of citizens, formerly British subjects, dared to think that men had the right granted by God to be free. These rebels actually had the idea that the people should be seen as the ones with power and that governments are derived "from the consent of the governed."

What a bunch of brave men they were. Each knew that he was committing treason when he signed that document. Treason was punishable by death at the end of a noose.

Most lost their fortunes during the Revolution because of the warfare in their communities or from helping to finance the war itself. Some fought in some of the battles of the war and none escaped some hardship.

When we celebrate this glorious day on Sunday either in the park at Freedom Fest, at picnics, at Bass Lake for fireworks, or at home with friends and family, we are doing what John Adams stated we should do each Independence Day in perpetuity -- Celebrating being free.

Do yourself a great favor on Sunday and re-read that birth certificate of our nation. I understand that many of the charges against the king are now out of date but they were very real back in the days of the Revolution.

Take note of the anger toward high taxes, and unfair laws and regulations along with concerns over the number of government bureaucrats swarming around the colonies. But be sure to re-read those beautiful words that flowed from the quill of Thomas Jefferson especially if you have children in the room with you.

"When in the course of Human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands that bind them with another..." What a different approach! They were a group of people not only upset with the way the king was treating them yet they retained a sense that they needed to state why they were separating.

These rebels did not hide in caves; they followed a set of enlightened principles. "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal..." That line states the case from the start that there is no need to justify that a people should be free because God gave them that right.

This great nation fought the greatest army and navy in the history of the world and proved its mettle. As I stated above, we were born in adversity and forged with valor and then day after day the men and women of this country carved out a lifestyle the envy of the world.

We faced the British again in 1812 and we fought against ourselves in the Civil War. We fought with other nations to protect our shores and we sent our troops around the world many times to defend liberty for others.

We lost some brave soldiers this week defending a nation and the cause of liberty in the same gallant manner that was witnessed on the green at Lexington and Concord.

The 56 who signed that Declaration gave us a gift and we have an obligation as citizens to guard our rights against tyranny. They gave us the standard by which we must protect that liberty -- "And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."

Happy Birthday America.