On this day 234 years ago, a document was displayed in the town square behind Independence Hall in Philadelphia, having been signed and decreed by the 2nd Continental Congress that a new nation had been birthed from the wounds oppression and tyranny.
It read, in part:
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 to 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.
These were the words that started a Revolution. These were principles that the signers, our Founding Fathers, were willing to risk their own lives, liberty, families, wealth and property to ensure for themselves and future generations.
These are principles that this beautiful nation was founded upon, later to be deemed a nation "of, by and for the People'.
I urge the current government administration, members of Congress, Supreme Court justices and each and every citizen of these United States to go back and take another look at these words and those of the U.S. Constitution. Read them carefully and take them to heart. Understand how carefully crafted those words are and why. They were written with purpose and intention. They are words for all of us to live up to and these words have been taken for granted for far too long.
We all remember, "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.", but how many of us neglect the rest of the paragraph, in particular;
"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 to 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." and "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.".
As we celebrate our nations birthday today with cook-outs, friends, family, cold beer and fireworks let us not forget what or why we are celebrating and remember to live up to the principles that are our inheritance, left to us by people who were willing to give their lives to ensure these principles and our freedom. We have many responsibilities that go hand in hand with our rights and freedoms We have mighty big shoes to fill as the heirs of such men.
Let us never squander our inheritance. Let Freedom Ring.
Posts
