Having recognized and defensible borders is a common-sense (you might want to look that term up in a dictionary) attribute. One need only look at the European territorial disputes of conflicting French and German claims, or the history of Poland, to understand the idea.
With repect to ftD's comments regarding the Fourth of July as our date of independence, and the founding of the Country - he is absolutely correct. Because we were able to sustain our quest of independence and eventually conclude a treaty with our former sovereign, we can justly celebrate that key date as when we declared our intentions. Had we lost, as did the confederacy, there would be nothing to discuss.
Exactly.
Had we lost, July 4th would have been the day that the colonies declared themselves a separate nation, not became one.