Independence

Today in the United States of America, we celebrate the Fourth of July holiday.  Independence Day.  Fireworks.  Picnics.  Family get togethers.  It all happens today.  July 4, 2021 feels different to many of us, at least when we remember what we were doing last year at this time (most of us probably weren't celebrating, as we were still in the midst of a global pandemic).  

Today we celebrate our independence.  Just only 245 years ago, 56 patriots signed one of the greatest documents in history, our Declaration of Independence.  "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 with that statement, 13 colonies declared their intention to the King of England, George III, that they were colonies no longer.  With that statement and the sentences to follow, the 13 colonies became the United States of America. 

The Declaration continues with the immortal words, "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."  Beautiful, inspiring words for sure.  Unfortunately, the phrase "all men are created equal" rings less true when you consider the fact that the majority (forty-one, in fact) of the Signers owned slaves.  

It's hard for many of us to reconcile the fact that so many of the Signers owned slaves with the words, "All men are created equal."  I encourage you to read Frederick Douglass' speech, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July".  Douglass delivered his speech just one decade before the American Civil War, at the end of which he would say that while gaining our independence from England following the American Revolutionary War was great, it paled by comparison to what was achieved at the end of the Civil War and the passage of the 13th Amendment that ended slavery once and for all. 

We acknowledge that the document is flawed, particularly in regards to this point.  History is like that.  And we continue to learn from the past, as we look towards a new and better future.

At the end of the day, the 56 men who signed the Declaration were committing treason.  Benjamin Franklin, one of only six men to sign both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution acknowledged that fact when he said, "We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."  In other words, these men were putting their lives on the line.  As such, they end their Declaration with, "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."

We have so much to celebrate this Fourth of July.  But we also have to remember where we are as a country today.  Imagine what we could accomplish as a nation if we truly lived by the words, "all men and women are created equal."   

So tonight, take a moment before the fireworks and read the Declaration of Independence.  And then reflect on the hard work that still lies ahead.