Happy Indpendence Day!

[Jimmer Negamanee]

Happy Independence Day!  Sure, I’m posting this on the 2^nd of July but July 2, 1776 was the day when the Second Continental Congress passed the resolution of independence which severed the legal ties between the U.S. and the monarchy of Great Britain.  In fact, John Adams thought July 2^nd would be the day recognized and celebrated as our Independence Day. 

The day we celebrate our independence, however, is the Fourth of July.  As we all learned in school, that’s the day the Declaration of Independence was signed.  Basically, the Declaration of Independence was a statement of the reasons why the Continental Congress passed the resolution of independence.  (Because it was Congress, there was a fair amount of debate, negotiation, and compromise to reach the agreed upon verbiage so it took them a couple days.)  The final product was almost poetic.  We all remember this part:

 “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.”

To those of you who have worn the uniform of our Country, I thank you for your service.  For those of you how have stood up for human and civil rights in order to make “a more perfect Union”, I thank you for your service.  To those who have served in the legislature or answered the call to jury service or willingly paid your taxes (notice I didn’t say “happily”), that’s also important service.  Thank you too. 

I’m amazed that 243 years later, we’ve persisted with this crazy idea that “We, the People” can govern ourselves.

One last interesting Founding Father fact.  Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both signed the Declaration of Independence and both served as President and both died on the exact same day, the Fourth of July, 1826.  Fifty years, to the day, from the day they signed the Declaration of Independence.

[Hoss50]

Happy 4th.

[Snapshot]

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