INDEPENDENCE DAY by T. Edwin Perry
I was born on the Fourth of July. Every year, my family would do the birthday cake, the “Happy Birthday” song, and the giving of gifts, and, like most kids, I looked forward to my birthday for all of those things. As an adult, however, my birthday doesn’t really mean much to me. It comes, it goes, no big whoop…AS MY BIRTHDAY; however, this date DOES hold a special meaning to me, and it is something that I think we’ve forgotten over the years.
At the bank, the grocery store and the pharmacy, they post signs to announce whether or not they’ll be open for business on the “Fourth of July Holiday.” I don’t know if it is intentional (I think it might be) or not (no, really, I think it is intentional), but I’ve noticed that the names of our Historical Holidays have changed over the 38 years of my life to date. No longer do we celebrate George Washington’s Birthday or Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday: we have “President’s Day,” a day to commemorate all of the Presidents of the United States by taking the day off from work. “Decoration Day,” which was enacted after the Civil War to honor the soldiers who died in battle, has become “Memorial Day,” which, according to Wikipedia, “marks the start of the Summer Vacation Season.” (WOW!) And “Independence Day” has become “the Fourth of July.” These changes may seem subtle, but the truth is that they “Fundamentally Transform” the way that we think about these days. After all, what is so special about the Fourth of July?
Prior to the American Revolution, the Fourth of July was just another day. People would get up, work their jobs and tend to their families, and then go to bed to do it all again on the fifth. The date would pass without any special observance whatsoever. But after the Revolution, this date would be marked as a special time of remembrance, a celebration of our Freedom from Tyranny, and the birth of the nation.
The Fourth of July doesn’t commemorate the START of the Revolution: that happened on April 19, 1775, as the Militiamen of Massachusetts stood against the British Army and fired the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” at Lexington Green. And it didn’t mark the END of the Revolution, which was the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783! But, on the Fourth of July in 1776, more than a year into our fight to claim Freedom from Tyrrany, the Representatives of the Continental Congress signed our formal Declaration of Independence from Britain.
We have to remember that signing the Declaration of Independence wasn’t like making a “New Year’s Resolution” to stop smoking, or deciding to start your own business. If you fail at those things, you start over. Not a problem. But, for our Founders, signing that Declaration was akin to signing their own Death Warrant! They couldn’t take it back. It made them TRAITORS to the Crown, and failure would guarantee their deaths, and likely the death or imprisonment of their entire families. They pledged their Lives, their Fortunes, and their Sacred Honor to the idea that “All Men are Created Equal” and “Endowed by their Creator” with the rights to “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
Fifty-five men exercised their courage and signed their names to the parchment that gave birth to our Nation, turning a simple piece of paper into something much more: The Declaration that Changed the World! John Hancock of Massachusetts, the first signer, is quoted as saying, “There…I guess King George will be able to read THAT!” (His is the largest signature on the page.) And Stephen Hopkins of Rhode Island is quoted as saying, “My hands tremble, but my heart does not.” They knew both the danger and importance of what they were doing, and, because of their actions, we were granted the gift of Freedom!
Unfortunately, we haven’t been very good stewards of that gift. We’ve allowed our Rights to be usurped by an ever-expanding Government. We’ve permitted our Freedoms to be infringed by the “Well-Meaning” Progressive Movement of Social Justice. We’ve allowed a “Political Elite” to squander OUR Lives, OUR Fortunes, and OUR Sacred Honor!
So this year, as you fire up the grill, crack open a cold beer and get ready to light your fireworks, try to think about this. Take the time to tell your children what you’re REALLY celebrating. After all, it’s not really about the Fourth of July: it’s INDEPENDENCE DAY!
Leave a Reply