July 04, 2007
Thus began the greatest experiment in human history, the founding of a new government that was not based on a devine right of kings and queens, but of a people that had decided that they could rule themselves. And rule themselves they have. Beginning with the Declaration of Independence drafted between June 11th and June 28th and read in congress. On July 2nd 1776 Congress declaired its independence from England and on July 4th, 1776 approved the Declaration. Congress ordered the Declaration engrossed (officially inscribed) and signed on July 19th and on August 2, 1776 delagates began to sign the Declaration.
John Dunlap printed the Declaration on July 4, 1776 and of these "Dunlap Broadsides" 24 copies are known to exist. On January 18, 1777 Congress, moved to Baltimore to avoid the British, orders that signed copies of the Declaration of Independence printed by Mary Katherine Goddard of Baltimore be sent to the states. The war for independence was well underway.
From that beginning, the signers of the Declaration, pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Sacred honor, what a stiring phrase that is, especially now given the events in Washington, the backbiting, the political posturing and the spending, the tussels between the legislative and executive branches, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and the invasion of our shores by peoples of another country looking for something they don't find in their home countries, work, freedom, and a chance to be somebody. Yes, they are illegal, but they also contribute something, though perhaps they cost more than they contribute.
Yet, this country, founded 231 years ago today still stands as that "bright shining city on the hill" to millions of people. If you ask a million people of countries that are, shall we say, less than ideal, less than free, a substantial majority of them will want to come to The United States of America, a country that began with people "Yearning To Be Free" and willing to fight and die for that ideal.
Many in this country are still willing to fight and die for that ideal, and far too many have given up, surrendered to political correctness and willing to bow and scrape to an ideology that in essence says "I know better how to do for you than you will ever know."
And yet, we are still that "Bright Shining City on the Hill." With God's help, and a willingness to do the right thing, to take our destiny in our hands trusting in a higher power to assist when and as necessary, we will continue to be that City.
Happy Independence Day, and always be willing to celebrate: July 4th as a day when, still, the greatest experiment of human history began, for it will never end as long as man is on the face of the earth.
Posted by GM Roper at July 4, 2007 08:55 AM | TrackBacki have linked to you today at my post for the fourth - have a memorable but safe day!
Posted by nanc at July 4, 2007 07:54 AM
And yet, we are still that "Bright Shining City on the Hill."
Yes, we are still that--even with all the problems our nation has.
Happy Independence Day! May those who have lost the vision of what America should be remember what this nation stands for and how she has stood for 231 years!
Posted by Always On Watch at July 4, 2007 08:27 AM
God Bless America and all freedom loving people around the world. May we never take what we have for granted.
Posted by Debbie at July 4, 2007 10:00 AM
Happy Birthday, America!
Posted by Woody at July 4, 2007 11:47 AM
Happy Fourth of July my friend Enjoy this beautiful country of ours! :)
Posted by Angel at July 4, 2007 01:07 PM
Yes, today is a day to celebrate, but not only for Americans, for all mankind. For all can take joy in what happened 231 years ago. It is a bold statement to proclaim that all men are endowed with inalienable rights, that there is a “social contract” between ruler and ruled, that men are not to be subject to nor servants of authority without “rights”. This is what America stands for, and what needs to be revisited in every generation or else its poetry and profundity is diminished.
There is a deep-seated, central belief in America that it is the embodiment of an idea -- the idea of liberty and the embodiment of God’s will. This has ramifications when it comes to defining the relationship between the United States and the rest of the world.
What that translates into is the doctrine of American Exceptionalism: the belief that America is special, in the double sense that it is superior, on the one hand, and that it is different, not only in degree, but in kind. This has been and still is a powerful force in the country’s sense of itself.
Its origins go back to the Anglo-Protestant beginnings of the colonies. As early as 1630, when Americans-in-the-making numbered only a few thousand, Massachusetts Governor John Winthrop, borrowing from the Gospel according to Matthew, famously said, “Consider that we shall be as a Citty [sic] upon a Hill, the eies [sic] of all people are upon us.” This image was to have great durability. Three and a half centuries later this phrase was an essential part of Ronald Reagan’s rhetoric. It was used repeatedly by him to denote the special and unique nature of his country and people, and to restore their beliefs in themselves after the setbacks of the 1970s.
From the belief in American Exceptionalism, it followed -- psychologically and somewhat logically -- that the United States had a mission, a manifest destiny, to change the world in its image. This conviction echoes down through American history. “We have it in our power to begin the world over again”, wrote Tom Paine in his pro-independence pamphlet, Common Sense. Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, put it in more providentially, “God has predestined, mankind expects, great things from our race . . . We are pioneers of the world; the advance-guard, sent on through the wilderness of untried things, to break a new path.” Also, Woodrow Wilson going into World War I said, “I believe that God planted in us the vision of liberty . . . I cannot be deprived of the hope that we are chosen, and prominently chosen, to show the nations of the world how they shall walk in the paths of liberty.” This is idealism of a high order that infuses policy with a conscious messianic mission.
Therefore, from the beginning America saw itself as special and different, and not without justification. America’s ascendancy in world history is not completely by accident or unintentional, but a consequence of many propitious events and an underlying sense of itself as fulfilling a celestial promise and a natural human aspiration.
Today a greater percentage of the world’s people are living in freedom around the world, than at any other time in world history. Dare America lay claim for this auspicious turn of events? Notwithstanding the rather imperfect unfolding of a nation’s history, I dare say she can. Thus it is not all together inappropriate for the world to also share in celebration and gratitude for America’s birthday.
Cheers,
Lawrence
Posted by Lawrence H. at July 4, 2007 01:59 PM
Lawrence, thank you!
Posted by GM Roper at July 4, 2007 06:34 PM
