Celebrating
Independence Day
Fourth
of July, 2011
By JoAnne Green July 1, 2011
Video courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard Band
It took Thomas
Jefferson 17 days to write the Declaration of Independence,
and on July 2,1776,
the Congress voted to declare independence from Great Britain.
After two days of debate and some changes to the document,
on July 4th, the Congress voted to accept the Declaration of
Independence.
This is why we celebrate
July 4th as Independence Day.
I
believe that some of the exact words from our Founding Fathers,
below, would serve to remind us what our country stands
for and how precious freedom and liberty are:
"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."
--Declaration of
Independence, July 4, 1776
The
unity of Government, which constitutes you one people,
is also now dear to you. It is justly so; for it is a
main pillar in the edifice of your real independence,
the support of your tranquility at home, your peace
abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very
Liberty, which you so highly prize. ~George
Washington (1732
–1799)
"Can the
liberties of a nation be sure when we remove their only
firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people,
that these liberties are a gift from God?
~Thomas
Jefferson
(1743-1826), the principal
author of the Declaration of
Independence and the third President of the
United States (1801–1809)
"(T)he
foundation of our national policy will be laid in the
pure and immutable principles of private morality;
...the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected
on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order
and right which Heaven itself has ordained..." ~George
Washington (1732
–1799), First Inaugural,
April 30 1789
"The
liberties of our country, the freedom of our
civil Constitution, are worth defending at all
hazards; and it is our duty to defend them
against all attacks.
We have received them
as a fair inheritance from our worthy
ancestors: they purchased them for us with
toil and danger and expense of treasure and
blood, and
transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will
bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present
generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer
them to be wrested from us by violence without a
struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices
of false and designing men." ~Samuel Adams
(1722 –1803), Signer of the
Declaration of Independence
"The
Constitution is not an instrument for the government to
restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people
to restrain the government." ~Patrick
Henry (1736 - 1799), Signer of the
Declaration of Independence
"If
ye love wealth better than liberty, the
tranquility of servitude better than the
animating contest of freedom, go home from
us in peace.
We ask not your
counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the
hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly
upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our
countrymen." ~Samuel Adams
(1722 –1803),
Signer of the Declaration of Independence
"God
who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties
of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their
only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people
that these
liberties are of the Gift of God?"
~Thomas Jefferson
(1743-1826), the principal
author of the Declaration of
Independence and the third President of the
United States (1801–1809)
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"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
