Happy Birthday, America!
In July of 1776 the U.S. fought a war of independence against the British crown. They fought against unfair taxes, quartering acts, lack of representation, and an overreaching monarch and parliament that governed from afar. The Declaration of Independence 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.”
The founding fathers did not enter the War of Independence lightly; it was not smooth sailing, they did not all hold the same opinions, and victory was uncertain. Though today we think of the founding fathers as wise older gentlemen and America as a land of wealth, in 1776 America was a vastly different place. The majority of the founding fathers were around the age of 40, most were of modest means holding several occupations to provide for their families, and America was far from having a military that could face the power of England’s well trained and supplied army and navy. However, what the founding fathers did have was a determination and a united belief 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 of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.”
Over the years the U.S. would again fight several wars to secure her independence and to protect the freedom and prosperity of her people. Two hundred and thirty-eight years later, America is again fighting a war of independence, both domestically and internationally.
It is not so much a war of military might and intervention as it is a war of ideas and ideals. On the domestic front, there is a movement to strip away the greatness and uniqueness that is America. There is an attempt to rewrite our history to support a narrative that moves the nation from a place of free-market principles and limited government to a place of socialistic society.
On the international front, this nation is fighting for its very existence. It is not a war that has been seen before. It’s not tanks, or planes, or ships and submarines heading to our shores. Nor is it the Cold War where we faced an enemy head-on in a battle of which country’s form of government should prevail. Today, our enemies are individuals who form a collective group of extremists that have infiltrated almost every corner of the globe, and whose sole wish is to see our lifestyle stricken from the planet.
Whether your ancestors came here on the Mayflower, immigrated through Ellis Island, crossed the Rio Grande, or sailed across the Pacific ocean, they all came here seeking the same thing—the land of golden opportunity. It is the thread that weaves all Americans together and it is the very thing our founding fathers sought so desperately to achieve. America is great because her story is what legends are made of—the underdog taking up the battle and winning against all odds! Is she perfect? No, no one is, but the ideas and ideals that make up the fabric of America are worth the fight.
So on this July 4th—American Independence Day—as you celebrate with cookouts, parties, and fireworks, don’t think of this day as just another historic day to have off. Celebrate this historic achievement by remembering that independence is a lifelong expedition, because invariably by sheer human nature, someone somewhere will always want to rule. But as Abraham Lincoln stated on the battlefield of Gettysburg:
“A government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”
Happy Birthday America, may your beacon of liberty forever shine brightly!
Happy Independence Day!
Image courtesy of Tallahassee Scene.
