Unfortunately, some Americans have sometimes ignored the ideals established by this document. We can fairly ask how any man could write such a powerful edict for freedom and have also been a slave owner (as was Jefferson). We can ask how the very essence of these sacred words could be warped by so many in government over the years, and it is impossible to not feel betrayal of the trust these words originally inspired in Americans.
Still, despite all of our stumbling and those wayward individuals who have deliberately ignored this eloquent argument for freedom, its words remain a beacon of hope for all people. We should never disparage the ideals set forth in it, even if it sometime seems we have not lived up to the challenge of its mandate. As scripture it sets the bar rather high, and we are fallible human beings after all.
So this Fourth of July, as you eat that hotdog, drink that beer, and watch the rockets red glare, remember the reason for this party held every summer. It is all about those eloquent words sent to a king to let him know his dominion had ended. It's call for freedom is a universal cry over the centuries for the rights of the individual, and its power has not diminished and the ideals set forth in it are indeed worth celebrating now and forever.
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Article comments
1 - kafantaris
Read the document itself:
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 . . .
2 - Brandt Hardin
On Independence Day we should celebrate our Constitutional Rights and Freedoms which so many men and women have fought for- including Freedom of Speech, Religion, Assembly and Press. The art of film has been one of the most powerful vessels for conveying the importance of these rights. Check out the Top 10 Movies of All Time about FREEDOM on a special 4th of July post today at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2012/07/top-10-movies-of-all-time-about-freedom.html to see some impassioned portrayals of our basic rights.