Independence Day is on July 4th, this year and Independence Day is held on July 4th, every year.

Why?

Our Heritage – How We Got Freedom

America was once colonies belonging to Britain.  Back in Britain, the people lived according to the dictates of the King, the noblemen who were the actual owners of most of the land, and Parliament.  

From the moment they reached the shores of the New World, the American colonists governed themselves.

While many American colonists owed contractual obligations to produce goods for shipment back to Britain, life in the colonies was vastly different from that in Britain – a life of freedom vs. a life of servitude.

Individual colonists could own land, produce and purchase what they wanted to their benefit, and could be elected to represent their local community in the colony’s government – all virtually unheard of in Britain, with its centuries of unbroken tradition. 

Freedom’s Building Blocks

A key piece that very strongly influenced the colonists’ thinking was the writings of Englishman John Locke, written in 1688-89. They included Locke’s “Second Treatise on Government” and his “Letter Concerning Toleration”.

Sadly, Locke’s ideas had no real impact on British politics.  But they had a big impact in America.

The idea that a government’s purpose was solely to protect the rights of the individual was Locke’s innovation.  

In Britain and the rest of the world, governments controlled the lives of their subject populations.  

The American ideal of a limited government, with powers defined in a constitution which that government could not change, was the first of its kind in the whole history of the human race.  

Combined with the American ideal that the purpose of government is solely to protect the “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” of American citizens, America’s Founding was truly a revolutionary event – like nothing ever seen, and a model against which all governments have been measured and judged  ever since.

We Hold These Truths …

America’s Declaration of Independence includes these key words:

"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 ..."

Independence Day – July 4th, 1776 – is when Americans published the Declaration of Independence.  On that first Independence Day, Americans boldly informed the most powerful king on Earth – King George III of Britain – that they, the thirteen American colonies, had determined that King George III and Britain’s Parliament were no longer fit to govern – that the British government no longer had “the consent of the governed”.  

And the Americans intended to do something about it.

The Americans said further:

“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.”

The Americans then went on to do exactly that.  

America’s Revolutionary War had begun on April 19th, 1775, when for the first time, British soldiers and American militia engaged in a set battle, in Lexington, Massachusetts.  

THE BATTLE OF LEXINGTON, 19 APRIL 1775

America’s leading citizens – the Founding Fathers – voted to approve the Declaration of Independence, and put their signatures on that document on July 4th, 1776, stating their deliberate intent:  “We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

In the eyes of the British government, the signing of the Declaration made the Declaration’s signers traitors to the British Empire, and subject to execution if captured.  Ultimately, five signers paid the ultimate price:  they were captured by the British, tortured, and executed.  

America’s Revolutionary War, with its many setbacks and victories, finally came to a triumphant end, on September 3rd, 1783, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris – Britain’s acknowledgement that the United States of America was an independent and sovereign nation.

Putting Ideals into Practice – the Constitution

Having won their independence, Americans then had to figure out how to actually build a government that corresponded to their lofty, John Locke-inspired ideals.

Many Europeans assumed that the new nation would crown its victorious General George Washington as King.

However, a Constitutional Convention, held in 1787, created America’s new Constitution.  That was approved by the 13 states, and in 1788, George Washington was elected the new country’s first President.

Washington served two four-year terms – eight years – as President; he then stepped down, setting a precedent that would be followed by subsequent Presidents for 144 years.  A new amendment passed in 1951 placed a legal limit of two terms for the Presidents. 

Preserving Freedom – Staying Involved in Our Government

The American system of government requires every citizen’s participation if it is to work as intended, and if we are to enjoy the liberty for which the Revolutionary War was fought.

You may not know much about government, but you know about your own life and the lives of your family better than anyone.  

Never hesitate to make a nuisance of yourself to your City’s Council.  Never hesitate to make a nuisance of yourself to your County Council member.  Never hesitate to make a nuisance of yourself to your State senator and representative in the General Assembly. Never hesitate to make a nuisance of yourself to your Senators and Representative in Congress.

Let them know that government handouts – and the taxes to pay for them – are unwelcome; that they do more harm than good.

Let them know that the taxes they take are more ruinous than the uses you would have for that money, if it had not been forcibly taken from you.

Let them know that preserving your liberty, your freedom, and your rights is their highest priority.  Let them know that preserving your freedom – by protecting you against criminals and foreign invaders – is the only justification for taxes at all.

Keep reminding government officials, again and again.  Government officials – and employees – are slow learners.  It takes repeated reminders to even begin to make them realize the purpose of government:  to protect your life, your liberty, and your pursuit of happiness – and nothing more.

Preserving Freedom Through Education

What do you want for your children’s’ future, and for the future of their children?

Understanding how government works is crucial to our freedom and to the ongoing preservation of freedom for future generations.  That makes education for the next generation critical to the success of this United States of America.

That education is your responsibility.  Even if you do not employ home-schooling, you must be involved enough to know what is being taught in schools, and why.  There will always be people – in government or out – who are convinced they know better than you what should be taught to your children.

Education is key to the freedom of future generations.  Freedom’s enemies know that, and they count on you not taking education as a serious issue.

The Founders – and You

America’s Founding Fathers put their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor on the line to make the new nation of the United States of America, and to create the best nation they were able to imagine.  

The Founders could only do so much.  They laid the foundation – but had to leave the future of the United States of America up to the people who live in the freedom they built.  

The Founders had to trust that future generations would understand the cost of freedom as well as they did, and to do what is required to protect, preserve, and maintain that freedom.  

Preserving the freedom we already have is far easier than fighting to undo tyranny and take it back.

Despite all the problems which America has faced in its history, its Constitution is still in place, still limiting the government in what it can do, and still making it possible for Americans to live in freedom – something no other citizens of any other country in the world can do.  

Enjoy that freedom, and make it continue to be possible.

Happy Independence Day