This Wednesday, July 4, 2007 marks the 231st year that the Declaration of Independence was formally endorsed by the first Congress. The actual signing of the document did not occur until August 2, but it is July 4th that marks the beginning of the United States of America.
Our forefathers had been at war with Great Britain since April 18, 1775, the night that General Gage (Massachusetts Governor) ordered 700 British soldiers to Concord to destory the colonists' weapons depot.
That same night, Paul Revere and William Dawes are sent from Boston to warn colonists. Revere reaches Lexington about midnight and warns Sam Adams and John Hancock who are hiding out there.
At dawn on April 19 about 70 armed Massachusetts militiamen stand face to face on Lexington Green with the British advance guard. An unordered 'shot heard about the world' begins the American Revolution.
Now here we are 231 years later and we are embrawled in another war. This time not with a particular country but an ideology: Radical Islam.
Our forefathers were fighting for their freedom from a tyranny government. Now our soldiers are fighting to keep our freedom from terrorists groups of an ideology.
I am sure that 231 years ago the militiamen who fought on the front lines of the American Revolution never ever dreamed that our country would still be fighting to keep us free. But yet here we are. There are those in the Radical Muslim community, that would love to see our country fall.
They hate what we stand for. They hate the freedom that we enjoy here. They don't understand the sacrifices that our forefathers had to endure so that we could become a country.
Why? Because they do not belong to one country. Standing up for an ideology cannot mean the same as standing up for a country. People can easily shift from one ideology to another. But it not that easy to wipe away your nationality. But that is what the Radical Muslims have done. They have pledge their allegance to an ideology and have turned their back on their home country.
This ideology has infiltrated our country. But thank God there are those who still believe in what our forefathers believed and what they wrote in the Declaration of Independence.
In Congress, July 4, 1776,
THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, 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, laying its foundation on such Principles and organizing its Powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. 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. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world...
Our soldiers are fighting for these very words. They are fighting to keep our alienable rights as citizens of the United States of America. We don't all agree on everything. And we don't all believe the same way. But the one thing we all have in common is the fact that we are citizens of the Greatest Country in the world. We are all citizens of the United States of America.
We are all proud Americans celebrating the birthday of our great country.
So I hope everyone has a great and safe and Happy 4th of July.
Sometimes I get caught up in everything about me and my life. Then, there are wonderful people like you that bring me back to what is important. Thank you for this post. I hope it is a wonderful 4th for all of us, especialy you.
Love a fellow man of history. The reason we are a country that loves the underdog, is because we were born that way. We took on the biggest, most powerful country and military in the world with a virtually penniless military, made up of men of common trades, and somehow beat them by shear will. It helped that we were lead by extraordinary men like George Washington, John Adams, Ben Franklin, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, and the whole rest. I know we have our faults, but who doesn't? I am very proud to live in this nation and proud of its history. Also, slight correction, John Hancock did afix his signature of the Declaration on July 4, he was one of only 2 to do it that day, that why his is the biggest on the Declaration.
volfan69 I too get caught up in my daily life way too many times. But when we almost lost my father in law earlier this year, I find myself thinking more and more of the men and women who have given their all for our wonderful country. I find myself saying a special prayer just for them and their families. I can't imagine having my husband off at war, while I try to carry on without him.
I admire and respect each and everyone of the wives and husbands who do carry on while their spouse is defending our country.
thesupposedbuckles You are welcome. I was aware that John Hancock was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence was I not aware of that he signed it on July 4 1776. I always thought he signed it on August 2 first.
You are so right we do love the underdog. Who of our enemies back in 1776 would have ever thought that 231 years later we would be such a mighty nation? I am sure that Great Britain thought that they would put this little rebellion down in just a matter of days.
But God had a plan for this country. And God used our forefathers to put that plan into action.
Wow, that got pretty deep people, I just wanted to say, as a veteran, that I was impressed with the content of the ladies blog. But then again, she always does write great stuff..
TSFAN, been busier than a Mark Martin t-shirt salesman. Hope you had a good 4th of July. Hot Hot Hot here in Ca. 102 to 105 degrees this week. Have a new puppy and busy house training him and all. Camping and playing golf.. You know I kinda agree with you, Nascar has gotten a little boring...But still like it..Well be good, let's see what happens this weekend on "As Nascar Turns" the new Sunday Soap..
bobdot Training a new puppy is very time consuming. My little pomeranian is 9 years old and I just can't bear to think about bringing another dog into the house. He is so spoiled rotten.
My 4th was really nice. Thank you for asking. Well it is only been in the 90s here in North Carolina. So it hasn't been too bad. But the humidity is what kills you out here. Not the heat. I feel for those of you out on the West Coast.
I hope that this race is better than the last several weeks. I really enjoy the restrictor plate races, so hopefully this one will not disappoint.
