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The Fourth of July
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Maxine, the daughter of a good friend in Vermont, sent me an e-mail containing patriotic images along with some touching sentiments. “May God continue to bless America. We ask God to help us overcome the evil that is eating away at our society, and to let our youth grow up in a safe and secure environment.”
These are some pretty heavy sentiments being circulated by a 12-year-old. It struck me, given my posting about helping children cope in the aftermath of a crisis -- http://www.examiner.com/x-10548-Hartford-Special-Interests-Examiner~y2009m6d16-Helping-children-cope-in-crises -- that we need to step back and assess the variety of crises facing our society. This list is long. It includes the economic downturn we are experiencing—and much of that suffering has been caused by greed-driven individuals. There is the daily loss of life which occurs daily in our homes, schools, places of business, and in the streets—at the hands of fellow Americans. We are getting caught up in the fear which is developing in the face of a pandemic viral influenza. We must better prepare ourselves to respond, even aspire to prevent, the problems in our society today in order to remain a strong, independent nation.
Maxine had asked that her e-mail be circulated in advance of July 4th. This also got me thinking about the upcoming holiday. Now would seem to be a fitting time for us, both as individuals and as a nation, to remember and examine the foundation our country is built upon.
In the United States, the Fourth of July is “Independence Day”. To many, this day is simply a federal holiday that means a day off from work, maybe a picnic or a barbeque and fireworks. We need to remember that on this day, we are commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, which listed our grievances against then-King of England George III, declared our independence as a sovereign nation from the Kingdom of Great Britain and established us as a sovereign nation.
A bit of a history lesson may help us recall the facts (which we all learned as youngsters.) One reason America’s founding fathers left their homeland, then went to war with that same power, was the oppression of various freedoms, such as the ability to worship as they chose, and later to protest against taxation without representation. As we were fighting the American Revolution, the Second Continental Congress approved a resolution of independence. Following their votes, this Congress debated and revised the contents of the Declaration of Independence, and approved it on July 4th.
“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.” http://www.constitution.org/usdeclar.pdf
John Adams, who later became the second President of the United States, wrote a letter to his wife Abigail saying, “The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.” http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/aea/ (Instead of July 2nd, this country ended up celebrating July 4th, the date many believe the resolution was approved.)
The ideals upon which the United States of America were founded grew out of the philosophies that developed during the Enlightenment that took place in France. “Whether considered from an intellectual, political, or social standpoint, the advancements of the Enlightenment transformed the Western world into an intelligent and self-aware civilization. Moreover, it directly inspired the creation of the world’s first great democracy, the United States of America.” http://74.125.45.132/search?q=cache:DA2b3S-6dVoJ:www.sparknotes.com/history/european/enlightenment/context.html+enlightenment+departure+from+middle+ages&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=safari
A host of revolutions occurred around the globe, growing out of the Enlightenment—in the United States, in South American countries including: Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, Columbia and Ecuador, as well as in Mexico and elsewhere. Our Declaration of Independence and our Bill of Rights were grounded in the principles of this movement, as interpreted by great men such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. “Various connecting threads among these varied uprisings include a concern for the "Rights of Man" and freedom of the individual; an idea (often predicated on John Locke or Jean-Jacques Rousseau) of popular sovereignty; belief in a "social contract", which in turn was often codified in written constitutions; a certain complex of religious convictions often associated with Deism or Voltairean agnosticism, and characterized by veneration of reason; abhorrence of feudalism and often of monarchy itself. The Atlantic Revolutions also had many shared symbols, including the name "Patriot" used by so many revolutionary groups; the slogan of "Liberty"…and so on.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Revolutions
We need to remember that we accomplished our hard-fought independence through a prolonged, bloody war with our former oppressor, the British monarchy. We need to act to control the forces of that oppress us; the effects of the recession and its resulting hardships, even poverty and homelessness; random violent crime; frightening public health threats. All these undermine our freedom to live as we would wish.
History affects collective identity. In addition to enjoying a day of fun on July 4th, let us pause to remember the reason we celebrate this auspicious date in history, and consider what we each can do to rededicate ourselves to the ideals of our founders.
Happy 4th of July to all. Enjoy our Independence Day!
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