The end was by no means assured.
On July 2, 1776, Thomas Jefferson crafted a Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. The colonies had had enough. They were finished. It was a letter declaring the colonies to be colonies no more, but sovereign states. Of course it takes more than saying something for it to be, otherwise, we could say stupid stuff like "Health care is a right", or "A college education is a right" or some other clap trap. It was no different in 1776 than it is today, except one thing.
Even though the Declaration went out in 1776, it was a year earlier that the British tried to disarm the patriots by force at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, and the war had already begun. and the truth of the matter was that the colonies were losing. We forget what an act of courage (or stupidity, it just depends on what happens, right?) it was. It was likely that the colonies would lose. You have to understand that, dear reader. If they had on-line betting in those days, the odds would overwhelmingly have been in favor of the British winning. It was treason to do what those brave men and women did. Yes, women too. They may have not signed the pledge, but there were many working for independence.
The signers of the Declaration pledged all, including their lives. Some paid that price. We think that partisanship is a new thing, or that it has never been this bad (uh, hello, Civil War anyone? And by that I mean the 19th Century war of northern aggression, as southerners call it, and not a Marvel movie.) Well, my friend, let me just tell you that the split we see today, 30% are right, 30% are left, and the rest are somewhere in between, is no different than it was then. You had those that were pro-Independence, those pro-Britain, and the rest maybe thinking that the crown was overreaching, but not enough to go to war over.
We don't think about these things while we are having our cook out, or while watching sports, or a good fireworks display. Heck, we might not think about them at all, except on rare occasions, maybe some news report of soldiers dying overseas, but truth is, we are spoiled rotten.
The norm of the human condition has been to have tyranny for a government, and poverty for an economic system. But the Declaration not only proclaimed independence from Great Britain, it spelled out that all are created equal, and that the rights of life, liberty, and property, (changed to pursuit of happiness, so as to not advocate slavery) were rights granted by God, and not man. Don't talk to me about the hypocrisy of men writing such words while owning slaves. Different times, and most knew that it was wrong. In fact some of the colonies had already abolished slavery. Can we just give that card a rest, even for one day?
The rights enumerated in the Declaration were God granted, or if you prefer, considered natural rights. You have a right to be live, not to be confused with the right to force someone at the point of a gun to take care of you as an adult. You have the right to liberty, unless you encroach upon another's rights, then the appropriate penalty may limit that liberty. And finally the pursuit of happiness, not the catching of it, as Benjamin Franklin stated, but the pursuit. To keep the fruit of your labors, to improve your condition.
No king, president, prime minister, or other leader grants those rights. No piece of paper does either. The best a government can do is protect those rights for individuals. The worst it can do is to strip you of those rights, and treat you as it will. I wonder how many people stop and understand that. Those clamoring for more government obviously do not. That, by the way is not a partisan issue, or rather it is not a Democrat vs Republican issue, both support larger governments, just the scope of growth is at question. In a world that has passed most of the lawmaking from the Congress to the Executive, one must wonder whether our government is still guaranteeing that pursuit of happiness.
The ideas of being free, to use your property as you would, to live as you would, were all unheard of. Why people see the Declaration as a piece of paper written by a bunch of old white slave owners, and nothing more is beyond me. They were taking a real risk, and many did die for that oath.
So as you light up the grill, put some root beer in the cooler, remember that in 1776, it was a huge risk, that independence was in doubt, and were it not for the hand of God, l wonder if we would be paying homage to the Queen, and remembering the likes of Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, and others as anything more than examples of treason.
Happy Independence Day!
Even though the Declaration went out in 1776, it was a year earlier that the British tried to disarm the patriots by force at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, and the war had already begun. and the truth of the matter was that the colonies were losing. We forget what an act of courage (or stupidity, it just depends on what happens, right?) it was. It was likely that the colonies would lose. You have to understand that, dear reader. If they had on-line betting in those days, the odds would overwhelmingly have been in favor of the British winning. It was treason to do what those brave men and women did. Yes, women too. They may have not signed the pledge, but there were many working for independence.
The signers of the Declaration pledged all, including their lives. Some paid that price. We think that partisanship is a new thing, or that it has never been this bad (uh, hello, Civil War anyone? And by that I mean the 19th Century war of northern aggression, as southerners call it, and not a Marvel movie.) Well, my friend, let me just tell you that the split we see today, 30% are right, 30% are left, and the rest are somewhere in between, is no different than it was then. You had those that were pro-Independence, those pro-Britain, and the rest maybe thinking that the crown was overreaching, but not enough to go to war over.
We don't think about these things while we are having our cook out, or while watching sports, or a good fireworks display. Heck, we might not think about them at all, except on rare occasions, maybe some news report of soldiers dying overseas, but truth is, we are spoiled rotten.
The norm of the human condition has been to have tyranny for a government, and poverty for an economic system. But the Declaration not only proclaimed independence from Great Britain, it spelled out that all are created equal, and that the rights of life, liberty, and property, (changed to pursuit of happiness, so as to not advocate slavery) were rights granted by God, and not man. Don't talk to me about the hypocrisy of men writing such words while owning slaves. Different times, and most knew that it was wrong. In fact some of the colonies had already abolished slavery. Can we just give that card a rest, even for one day?
The rights enumerated in the Declaration were God granted, or if you prefer, considered natural rights. You have a right to be live, not to be confused with the right to force someone at the point of a gun to take care of you as an adult. You have the right to liberty, unless you encroach upon another's rights, then the appropriate penalty may limit that liberty. And finally the pursuit of happiness, not the catching of it, as Benjamin Franklin stated, but the pursuit. To keep the fruit of your labors, to improve your condition.
No king, president, prime minister, or other leader grants those rights. No piece of paper does either. The best a government can do is protect those rights for individuals. The worst it can do is to strip you of those rights, and treat you as it will. I wonder how many people stop and understand that. Those clamoring for more government obviously do not. That, by the way is not a partisan issue, or rather it is not a Democrat vs Republican issue, both support larger governments, just the scope of growth is at question. In a world that has passed most of the lawmaking from the Congress to the Executive, one must wonder whether our government is still guaranteeing that pursuit of happiness.
The ideas of being free, to use your property as you would, to live as you would, were all unheard of. Why people see the Declaration as a piece of paper written by a bunch of old white slave owners, and nothing more is beyond me. They were taking a real risk, and many did die for that oath.
So as you light up the grill, put some root beer in the cooler, remember that in 1776, it was a huge risk, that independence was in doubt, and were it not for the hand of God, l wonder if we would be paying homage to the Queen, and remembering the likes of Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, and others as anything more than examples of treason.
Happy Independence Day!
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