The Meaning of the Day
Each year in this country, we mark July 4th as Independence Day, when we celebrate the time in 1776 when a brave people filed for divorce from the British government.
The separation document is known as the Declaration of Independence, and many believe they can quote what it stands for…the right to free speech, the right to bear arms, the right to not testify against yourself in court.
All important, but none of which are in the Declaration. Those are rights granted in the Constitution, which established our form of government after the colonists won the Revolutionary War.
Many believe that the Declaration was approved, and then the War began. Not quite…it actually began in April…of the year before, 1775.
And as mentioned in this segment Tuesday, it was actually on July 2nd that those meeting in Philadelphia at the Second Continental Congress voted to issue a Declaration. That seemed like the pivotal step, so much so that John Adams declared that generations would be celebrating July 2nd…but the delegates approved actual language for a document two days later…and since then, we’ve looked to July 4th, the day in essence the paperwork was in order, as the date of our independence.
Fifty-six men signed that document…not all on July 4th, however; most did not actually sign the paper for another month.
And those fifty-six suffered as a result of their actions. Of the fifty-six signers, at least twelve had their homes and property taken, occupied, ransacked or burned in retribution. Five were captured by British authorities and held in custody as prisoners of war.
And that was not a good place to be…the Revolutionary War lasted six years, during which time more than 12-thousand prisoners died while in custody…compared with 44-hundred who died on the battlefield in combat.
The short of it is that those fifty-six, and their families, gave up a lot so we could grill brats and set off now-legal fireworks. And we know so little about the document and what it actually did.
At the very least, take a little time to think about what it means to be independent, and celebrate that, along with enjoying the other things about this holiday. And show some gratitude for those who gave it all for an ideal and a concept that we benefit from richly today.
