241 years ago today, 13 colonies joined together to create the United States of America.
Please take a moment to remember the true meaning of today, before you enjoy your barbecue, fireworks, and other activities that you have planned.
13 colonies declared their independence from the strongest military power on the planet on July 4, 1776. Against a wall of uncertainty and overwhelming odds that no bookmaker would take, Americans won their independence from Great Britain after a hard-fought, bloody, 5-year struggle.
Please honor the men and women who risked it all, and many of whom lost it all, to establish the United States of America.
Thomas Jefferson’s opening words in the Declaration of Independence capture the essence of the American Revolution.
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 right, 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.
Happy Independence Day!
Note: The entire text of the Declaration of Independence can be found here. The same document is presented in outline form here.
Patriot Parchment 