Happy 250th America
250 years ago today, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. The remarkable document was primarily written by Thomas Jefferson although the other members of the Committee of Five – John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston – heavily edited the final draft. It starts thus:
In Congress, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
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. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, 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. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
The 56 men who signed the Declaration did not do so lightly. Each one of them knew they were essentially signing their own death warrants if the colonials lost.
Happy 6th MVAP
Funny that. Your favorite site on the interwebz and the best country on Earth sharing the same birthday.
Except not really.
It was planned that way. 6 years ago, this site started as a way to connect with like-minded Veterans and Patriots. Rogue Unicorn and I chose 4 July as our hard launch date for the obvious reasons. And despite some hiccups along the way, it has worked out wonderously.
Thank you all for coming along for the ride.
