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The saddest thing about this holiday, other than the torment of innocent animals, is that most Americans think of it as nothing more than a day to barbeque and shoot off fireworks. Some remember they're supposed to put out a flag but don't really know why.
I've probably seen a half dozen man on the street interviews asking why we celebrate Independence Day and maybe one out of twenty, if that, actually knows. A lot tentatively guess at the historical reference but don't get close. Answers range from "I have no idea" to the day the Constitution was signed or the end of the Revolutionary or some other war.
We were already at war for a year and a Continental Congress had been formed when on July 4, 1776, that Continental Congress passed the Declaration of Independence and thereby certified their intent to create a new independent country with a unique vision i.e. a nation with government of the people, by the people, for the people:
"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. . ."
The war would last for seven years and it would be 12 years from the signing of the Declaration before the USA became a reality when the Constitution was finally ratified on June 21, 1788. The rest is, as they say, in the history books.
I've probably seen a half dozen man on the street interviews asking why we celebrate Independence Day and maybe one out of twenty, if that, actually knows. A lot tentatively guess at the historical reference but don't get close. Answers range from "I have no idea" to the day the Constitution was signed or the end of the Revolutionary or some other war.
We were already at war for a year and a Continental Congress had been formed when on July 4, 1776, that Continental Congress passed the Declaration of Independence and thereby certified their intent to create a new independent country with a unique vision i.e. a nation with government of the people, by the people, for the people:
"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. . ."
The war would last for seven years and it would be 12 years from the signing of the Declaration before the USA became a reality when the Constitution was finally ratified on June 21, 1788. The rest is, as they say, in the history books.