Thursday, July 4, 2024

On The Fourth Of July



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.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.


We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

56 comments:

  1. With thanks for our nation . . . happy Fourth of July.

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  2. This should be put out for every one to read. They tend not to get past the first paragraph. The rest, if seriously considered, should give them pause considering current events.

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  3. From Diana: Thank you for reminding us about the Declaration of Independence, Hank. Thinking about the world they lived in at the time the Declaration of Independence was drafted. Airplanes had not been invented yet. So many modern things did not exist back then. People traveled by sea at that time in history.

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    1. Yes, but some things should never change, and that's why this is so brilliant--and important.

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  4. Thank you, Hank. I am terrified that we might be on a path back to tyranny and power in the hands of the few instead of the people.

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    1. All hands on deck to ensure that voters will vote for democracy to survive. Never allow a dictatorship like a military junta in certain countries. I do not understand why some in the media says that villain wants to be a king. Actually that villain wants to be a DICTATOR.

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  5. I'm quite concerned about the possibility that the U.S. is on the precarious path to tyranny. Project 2025 is practically a blueprint for it, and abuses the whole idea of this Declaration of Independence. It's a sobering 4th of July for me.

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    1. Living in Canada, I had not heard of Project 2025 and had to look it up online. What they are planning to do is terrifying.

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    2. I am still reading the whole thing, and it's not even....well, we'll talk.

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    3. Make sure that your voter registration is up to date so you can vote.

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  6. Thank you Hank. I sure hope we don't have to repeat history....

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  7. Terrifying prospects ahead.

    Happy 4th of July!

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  8. Cathy Akers-JordanJuly 4, 2024 at 7:49 AM

    Thank you, founding fathers! Happy Independence Day!

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  9. Thank you for this sobering review of our beginnings. As I read it, I feel as if we are on the cusp of another revolution unless we can remind folks of why this country was created to begin with. Also important to recall that we were once the immigrants. We tend to forget that. And, yes, everyone should read Project 2025 for it is indeed a terrifying prospect to consider. Blessing for a safe holiday for all! -- Victoria

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  10. I am so very discouraged about our present politics that I am having trouble sleeping. It's as if we're reenacting 100 years ago with copycat nationalists rising to power around the world. Here's Hirohito, here's Mussolini, here's Hitler, here's Franco. The copying is simply faster now due to modern communications. The recent decision by the Supreme Court is a horrifying indication that it could indeed happen here. I am praying every day. (Selden)

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  11. Thank you! I have to add words from Lincoln that Heather Cox Richardson used to end her piece today: "The men who signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, pledged their “Lives, [their] Fortunes and [their] sacred Honor” to defend the idea of human equality. Ever since then, Americans have sacrificed their own fortunes, honor, and even their lives, for that principle. Lincoln reminded Civil War Americans of those sacrifices when he urged the people of his era to “take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

    Words to live by in 2024."

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    1. Oh, yes, I read her posts too, every day. She is incredibly brilliant.

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  12. Thank you. Elisabeth

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  13. Truly words to live by--facts, not alternative 'facts', honor--so sadly lacking most egregiously among many who have and seek to retain or obtain political power in this country. I'm with Selden and Edith and all who are terrified--hard to not be terrified.

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  14. Inspiring... and imagining what it must have been like for those men to craft it.

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    1. Oh, I so agree! And think of how dangerous it was to write, and to share!

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    2. So very dangerous, Hank. That was treason.

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    3. The irony is that now England has NHS and the closest thing the USA has to that is Affordable Health Care Act and the villains are trying to destroy that. Canada was a colony of England for a long time and now Canada has national health too.

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  15. Thank You! Alicia Kullas

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  16. Inspiring, indeed. On this 248th anniversary of our independence, we have a duty to make sure we continue to embrace the concept, and our beloved country.

    Sadly, outside--and inside--influences are working overtime to subvert the ideals of the original framers, and they have planted seeds of discontent, largely with the ideas that there ARE those who are currently acting as despots, when they themselves aspire to such action. Propaganda from so many sources has worked to literally change reality, with many believing improbable and impossible lies about our leaders and government.

    We may never again have such an opportunity to continue to enjoy the freedoms outlined in our Constitution and Bill of Rights, if we don't make sure we all vote to keep them.

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  17. I remember when I was a child in middle school feeling conflicted about the phrase “all MEN are created equal” and still feel a sinking feeling within me now every time I read it. In today’s world, we should insist that the language be amended to “all people” are created equal. I am beyond concerned about the trajectory the US is on. I can only hope that things will somehow remain in balance. However, with the Supreme Court as it stands, our system appears broken. Hopefully not irrevocably. —Feeling glum on this 4th.

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    1. I always thought about that, too...but we know what they meant to mean.

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    2. Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams, wanted the Declaration of Independence to amend to “all people”

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  18. God bless the USA 🇺🇸

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  19. How would our Congress look at the Declaration of Independence and the constitution today?
    Would we have either one if it were up to them. The founding fathers were able to resolve their differences for the good of the country, but I’m not sure today’s congress would.

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    1. That would be interesting--aren't there always experiments where parts of the Declaration annd constitution are shown to lawmakers, out of context, and they always disagree?

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  20. I think the last time I read the Declaration was when I was in high school.

    There is so much that people have forgotten. We have the freedom and the responsibility to do the right thing.

    Our senators and our members of Congress need to reread the Declaration of Independence. Now.

    DebRo

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  21. Thank you, Hank. Our founding documents are always worth re-reading...for where they succeeded, where they didn't...and what they actually said. (I'm not convinced all of Congress has ever read them) And as scary and disturbing as our time seems.... it's useful to be reminded that it was never, ever easy. I often watch 1776 today, for that reason. (Ok, I like musicals, too) The history is pretty solid...and the conflicts are made startlingly real. in later years that wise old man Ben Franklin said "You have a republic. If you can keep it." Indeed

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  22. As I was reading these posts, I kept thinking what a fascinating alternate history novel this would be. Writers, if you could pen such a novel, how would you approach it? Would you show a handful of resistance fighters or would you drill down to the millions of souls who are finally realizing the mess in which they find themselves because they did not speak up when they still had a voice? Would you have a Constitution-burning bonfire?

    One of the things I have grown to treasure in this blog is how it challenges me and stimulates my mind in new and fertile ways. Thanks so much for the gift of fresh eyes and perspectives on so many fronts. I am most grateful to have landed here. --Victoria

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  23. I don’t know if I have ever read the entire Declaration of Independence (though, like Triss, I watch “1776” often so have heard the portions read aloud as in the movie). Certainly people can parse the portions and find fault with things like “all men” instead of all people. The Founders didn’t mean ALL men, let alone including women, but that’s zeitgeist. Look at what is happening today. We have a much greater threat to our democracy right now than has possibly ever existed since the early years of our country’s existence. We should all be very afraid and yet resolved to act: inform yourselves (read Project 2025, read analysis of the most recent SCOTUS decision, pay attention), be sure you are registered to vote, encourage your friends and neighbors to register and then, for all of our sakes, VOTE! — Pat S

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  24. Susan Nelson-HolmdahlJuly 4, 2024 at 2:10 PM

    Thanks Hank for posting this constitutional reminder!
    I am very tired of people wringing their hands and saying they are terrified.
    We have to fight. Telling people to vote is not enough!
    I have written political documents in an attempt to wake people up to the threat to our democracy. I believe the best method is to show what this radical Supreme Court has done to our constitution. It has gutted the document that has survived for 248 years, and was the framework for our country. Attacking 45 is counterproductive!
    I am an Attorney and I am willing to do whatever it takes to fight this attack on our democracy Given our digital society the information needs to be in digital form,, writing postcards while a nice idea is not effective. The majority needs to get mad and fight for our country.
    I am in California, most here are politically aware. If the worst happens, California will become a separate country. We are the fifth largest economy in the world.

    I want to fight, if anyone has media contacts that need help, I am available to help.



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    1. You are so right, Susan. It's past time to wake people up to reality.

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  25. PAT D Happy Independence Day all! Let's hope our current political cycle swings back to reason, cooperation, and humanity.

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    1. The situation today is not a normal political cycle. It is an attempt to establish an authoritarian state in the USA. This is a power grab, they have no interest in public discourse or cooperation!

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  26. I think, like teachers have to attend refresher workshops and classes, Congress and the Supreme Court should have to do the same, with the subject matter being the Constitution. Of course, I not sure even that reminder would keep our legislature and courts from running amok. I'm so disheartened that there are so many people in this country who seem to want tyranny or dictatorship rule. The Supreme Court, who also answers to no one, has put the President of the United States above the law, above the Constitution. We can no longer say that no one is above the law. If things go in the tyrant direction in November, look for a statue of Putin in the Rose Garden.

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    1. Kathy, I wonder if it is not that they want tyranny, but that they are uneducated and unable to approach an issue using critical thinking skills. They seem to be invested in changes, yet I suspect none of them have read Project 2025. Perhaps educating the public, literally reading from Project 2025 or providing a bullet-point single page document to highlight the things they would be signing up for if they voted for tyranny. It may be as simple as talking to the person right in front of you and asking if they've read P2025. If not, encourage them to do so. I've found myself doing that a lot recently. It is scary how many folks haven't even heard of it. The Media is dropping the ball here by focusing on age instead of party platforms. -- Victoria

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  27. Some of that is quite jarring in sentiment and language. I was just reading "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" a speech given by Frederick Douglass and it resonates with me, because of course women were also not included in the Declaration of Independence. Douglass did give the founders their due as great men, but he knew then as we do now, that we have a long way to go.

    Here's a snippet: "The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.”- Frederick Douglass, July 5, 1852

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    1. That is such a powerful speech, Jenn. My Quaker Meeting is hosting a public reading of it Saturday morning.

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  28. From Diana: Looks like the UK election yesterday ushered in the Labour Party and the Tory party’s no longer in power. Keir Starmer may be the new Prime Minister.

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