FReeper Canteen ~ God Bless America ~ Happy 4th of July ~ July 4 2004

~ Happy Birthday America ~

The Declaration Of Independence

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies
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, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. 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.

America 1776 - America 2004

America 1776 - The population was nearing a million or had just crossed over the million mark.

America 2004 - The estimated population is 293 million people.

America 1776 - Average children in a family were 6.3
America 2004 - Average children in a family dropped to 2.07

America 1776 - America's largest city was Philadelphia (pop.34,000)
America 2004 - America's largest city is New York City (pop. 8 million)

America 1776 - There were no telephones in America
America 2004 - (186 million main lines & 140 million cell users)

America 1776 - Ninety percent of the American population worked in the Agricultural field.
America 2004 - Only 2.4 percent of the population now works in an Agricultural related field.

America 1776 - There would become 13 States.
America 2004 - There are now 50 states with over 17 territories.

To find out more information please visit here and here.

As we celebrate another American birthday, we ask that you remember the reason for our celebrations. This Nation was born with the blood, sweat, and tears of average farmers trying to make a new life for themselves and their families. It set us apart then. It still does today.

As you celebrate, please say a prayer for the protection of our brave heroes. As you eat your hot dogs and spend time with family and friends, please take a moment to think about a soldier far from home. As you watch the fireworks, remember the tradition of the American Soldiers and Sailors.

Please post any 4th of July celebrations or ways you will be honoring our Troops. Please stay safe and have fun!!!

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on July 04:
1546 Murad III, sultan of Turkey (1574-95)
1715 Christian Gellert Saxony, poet, novelist (Fables & Tales)
1753 Jean-Pierre-Francois Blanchard 1st balloon flights in England, US
1804 Nathaniel Hawthorne Mass, author (House of 7 Gables, Scarlet Letter)
1807 Giuseppe Garibaldi unified Italy
1826 - Green Clay Smith, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1895
1828 James Johnston Pettigrew, Brig General (Confederate Army)
1826 Stephen Foster Lawrenceville, Pa, composer (Oh! Susanna, Swanee River)
1847 James Anthony Bailey Detroit, circus impresario (Barnum & Bailey)
1867 Stephen Mather organized US National Park Service

1872 Calvin Coolidge, [Silent Cal], Plymouth Vt, (R) 30th pres (1923-29)

1875 Giovanni & Giacomo Tocci Italy, siamese twins
1878 George M Cohan entertainer, A Yankee Doodle
1883 Rube Goldberg who made the easy outrageously difficult
1885 Louis B Mayer Minsk Russia, motion-picture executive (MGM)
1898 Johnny Lee Missouri, actor (Calhoun-Amos 'n' Andy)
1900 Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong New Orleans LA, jazz musician (Hello Dolly)
1902 George Murphy New Haven Ct, (Sen-R-Calif)/actor/dancer (MGM Parade)
1902 Meyer Lansky mobster (Started numbers)
1905 Lionel Trilling author (1969 Poses Award, Liberal Imagination)
1910 William T "Champion Jack" Dupree, US boxer/Blues pianist
1911 Mitch Miller Rochester NY, sing along with Mitch (Yellow Rose of Tx)
1916 Tokyo Rose (Iva Toguri D'Aquino" WW II propogandist
1918 Abigail Van Buren twin sister, advice columnist
1918 Ann Landers twin sister, advice columnist
1918 Taufa'ahau Tupou IV king of Tonga (1965- )
1920 Leona Helmsley (wife of Harry), real estate billionaire (Starts with B rhymes with rich)
1924 Eva Marie Saint Newark NJ, actress (On the Waterfront)
1926 Mary Stuart Miami Fla, actress (Jo-Search for Tomorrow)
1927 Gina Lollobrigida Subiaco Italy, actress (Trapeze, Falcon Crest)
1927 Neil Simon playwright (Odd Couple, Plaza Suite, Biloxi Blues)
1928 Stephen Boyd actor (Fantastic Voyage, Ben-Hur)
1929 Al Davis Brocton Mass, NFL team owner (LA Raiders)
1930 George Steinbrenner NY Yankees owner/ship builder/horse owner
1938 Bill Withers WV, rhythm & blues singer (Lean on Me)
1943 Al "Blind Owl" Wilson, rock guitarist/vocalist (Canned Heat)
1946 Michael Milken LA Calif, partner (Intl Capital Access Group)
1946 Ron Kovic disabled vietnam vet (Born on 4th of July)
1955 John Waite singer (Babies/Bad English-Forget Me Not)

Deaths which occurred on July 04:
1307 Rudolf III, Duke of Austria/King of Bohemia dies
1336 Elisabeth van Portugal, queen of Portugal/saint, dies at about 65
1623 William Byrd, English composer (Ave verum corpus), dies at 80
1627 Thomas Middleton Elizabethan dramatist, dies (birth date unknown)

1826 John Adams & Thomas Jefferson 2nd & 3rd presidents, die

1831 James Monroe 5th president, dies

1910 Giovanni V Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer (Mars), dies at 75
1934 Chaim Nachman Bialik zionist poet, dies
1957 Judy Tyler actress (Princess-Howdy Doody), dies at 24 in car crash
1962 Rex Bell cowboy (Cowboys & Injuns), dies at 56
1970 Harold Vanderbilt America Cup winner (1930, 34, 37), dies at 85
1992 Joe Newman, US jazz trumpetist (Count Basie), dies
1995 Eva Gabor, actress (Green Acres), dies at 74
1997 Charles Kuralt, news anchor (On The Road), dies at 62
1999 White supremacist Benjamin Nathaniel Smith shoots himself

Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1967 CRAIG PHILLIP C.---ONEIDA NY.
[REMAINS RETURNED 11/26/86]
1969 FALLON PATRICK M.---PITTSBURGH PA.
1970 BOOKOUT CHARLES F.---OKLAHOMA CITY OK.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
1054 Brightest known super-nova (Crab Nebula) starts shining (23 days)
1187 Battle of Hittin (Tiberias): Saladin defeats Reinoud (the scumbag)of Chatillon
1415 Angelo Correr becomes Pope Gregory XII
1453 41 Jewish martyrs burned at stake at Breslau
1636 City of Providence, Rhode Island form
1653 Barebones Parliment goes into session in England

1776 Declaration of Independence-US gains independence from Britain

1789 1st US tariff act
1796 1st Independence Day celebration is held
1802 US Military Academy officially opens (West Point, NY)
1817 Construction on Erie Canal begins
1819 William Herschel makes last telescopic observation of 1819 comet
1827 Slavery abolished in NY
1828 Construction begins on Band O (Baltimore-Ohio) 1st US passenger RR
1829 Cornerstone laid for 1st US mint (Chestnut & Juniper St, Phila)
1831 "America (My Country 'Tis of Thee)" is 1st sung in Boston
1836 Wisconsin Territory formed
1845 Texas Congress votes for annexation to US
1845 Thoreau moves into his shack on Walden Pond
1861 In a special session of 27th Congress Lincoln requests 400,000 troops
1861 Skirmish at Harper's Ferry, WV
1862 Battle at Green River Ky (Morgan's Ohio Raid)
1862 Lewis Carroll creates Alice in Wonderland for Alice P Liddell
1863 Boise, Idaho founded (now capital of Idaho)
1863 Failed Confederate assault on Helena Arkansas (640 casualties)
1863 General Lee's army withdraws from Gettysburg
1863 Vicksburg, Mississippi surrenders to Union forces
1865 1st edition of "Alice in Wonderland" is published
1866 Firecracker thrown in wood starts fire destroying « of Portland, Me
1874 Social Democratic Workmen's Party of North America formed
1875 White Democrats kill several blacks in terrorist attacks in Vicksburg
1876 1st public exhibition of electric light in SF
1879 Africaner Union forms by Rev SJ du Toit at Cape colony
1879 Battle at Rorkes Drift: Britain ends attack on Zulus
1881 Brooker T Washington establishes Tuskegee Institute
1883 Buffalo Bill Cody presents 1st wild west show, North Platte, Nebr
1884 1st US bullfight held (Dodge City Ks)

1884 Statue of Liberty presented to US in Paris

1886 1st scheduled transcontinental passenger train reaches Pt Moody, BC
1888 1st organized rodeo competition held, Prescott, Ariz
1889 Washington state constitutional convention holds 1st meeting
1893 A Borrelly discovers asteroid #369 Aeria
1894 Elwood Haynes successfully tests one of 1st US autos at 6 MPH
1894 Republic of Hawaii established
1898 US flag hoisted over Wake Island (Spanish-American War)
1903 Pacific Cable (SF, Hawaii, Guam, Phil) opens, Pres TR sends message
1910 Jack Johnson KOs James Jeffries in 15 rounds, ending come-back try
1911 Ty Cobb goes 0 for 4 & ends a 40 game hit streak
1914 1st US motorcycle race (300 miles, Dodge City Ks)
1919 Jack Dempsey beats Jess Willard in Cuba for heavyweight championship
1919 M Wolf discovers asteroid #914 Palisana
1933 Work begins on Oakland Bay Bridge
1939 Yankees retire 1st uniform (Lou Gehrig #4), 1st Old Timers Day

1942 1st American bombing mission over enemy-occupied Europe (WW II)
1944 1,100 US guns fire 4th of July salute at German lines in Normandy

1946 Philippines gains independence from US

1946 Anti Jewish riots in Kielce Poland, 42 die
1950 Truman signs public law 600 (Puerto Ricans write own consitution)
1956 Independence National Historical Park established in Philadelphia
1956 US most intense rain fall (1.23" in 1 minute) at Unionville Maryland
1959 America's new 49-star flag honoring Alaska statehood unfurled
1959 Cayman Islands separated from Jamaica, made a crown colony
1960 America's new 50-star flag honoring Hawaiian statehood unfurled
1960 Mickey Mantle hits career homer # 300
1966 Beatles attacked in Philippines after insulting Imelda Marcos
1966 LBJ signs Freedom of Information Act
1969 140,000 attend Atlanta Pop Festival featuring Led Zep & Janis Joplin
1970 100 injured in race rioting in Asbury Park NJ
1973 In audience with Italian cyclists, Pope Paul VI praises athletes who "offer the magnificent show of a healthy, strong, generous youth"
1975 "Fictional" wedding date of Coneheads
1975 Bundy victim (?) Nancy Baird disappears from Layton, Utah
1976 Raid on Entebbe-Israel rescues 229 Air France passengers
1978 Memphis firefighters halt 3-day strike under a court order
1982 4th Space Shuttle Mission-Columbia 4 lands at Edwards AFB
1982 Jimmy Connors beats John McEnroe for his last Wimbeldon championship
1984 Yuri Sedykh of USSR throws hammer a record 86.33 m
1987 Nazi Klaus Barbie, "Butcher of Lyon" convicted by a French court
1996 Hot Mail, a free internet E-mail service begins
1997 US space probe Pathfinder lands on Ares Vallis Mars

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Bahamas : Queen's Birthday
Cayman Islands : Constitution Day
Hannibal Missouri : Tom Sawyer Fence painting Day
Italy : Garibaldi Day (1807)
Philippines : Philippine-American Friendship Day (1946)
Rhode Island : Providence Day (1636)
Tonga : King's Birthday
US & Possessions : Independence Day (1776)
Yugoslavia : Fighter's Day
Iowa : Independence Sunday (Sunday)
Caribbean Common Market : Caribbean Day (1973)(Monday)
Lesotho : Family Day (Monday)
Zambia : Heroes Day (Monday)
Hannibal Missouri : Tom Sawyer Fence painting Day
US : National Country Music Day
US : National Toe Jam Day
National July Belongs to Blueberries Month

Religious Observances
Muslim-Libya : Mohammed's Ascension
RC : Feast of St Bertha, abbess
RC : Mem of St Elizabeth of Portugal, queen/widow, (opt)

Religious History
1765 English poet and hymnwriter William Cowper observed in a letter: 'How naturallydoes affliction make us Christians!'
1831 Baptist clergyman Samuel Francis Smith penned the American patriotic hymn,'America' ('My Country, 'tis of Thee'). Smith was unaware that the tune, ironically, wasalso that of England's national anthem: 'God Save the Queen'!
1840 Birth of American sacred composer James McGranahan. His most enduring melodiesinclude CHRIST RETURNETH, MY REDEEMER, NEUMEISTER ('Christ Receiveth Sinful Men') andSHOWERS OF BLESSING.
1870 Birth of James Moffatt, Scottish New Testament scholar. Moffatt translated theNew (1913) and Old (1924) Testaments into the colloquial English of his day. They were firstpublished together in 1935.
1970 American Presbyterian missionary Francis Schaeffer observed in a letter: 'Ifstandards are raised which are not really scriptural,... it can only lead to sorrow. If wetry to have a spirituality higher than the Bible sets forth, it will always turn out to belower.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."

Things To Do If You Ever Became An Evil Overlord...
DO NOT be either chivalrous nor sporting. If you have an unstoppable superweapon, USE IT as early and as often as possible instead of keeping it in reserve.

The World's Shortest Books...
Things I Love About Bill - by Hillary Clinton.

Dumb Laws...
Nebraska:
If a child burps during church, his parent may be arrested.

Top Ten Things That sound Dirty In Golf..But Aren't...
9. After 18 holes I can barely walk.

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July 04, 2004
Chicago, IL
Sunrise	5:21 AM (CDT)
Sunset	8:33 PM (CDT)
Hrs. of Daylight	15 Hrs., 12 Mins

July 4, 2004

A Strong Constitution