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Posted on 07/03/2006 6:47:14 PM PDT by mdittmar
Technically, it was adopted on the 2nd, but Happy 4th anyway!
Have a safe and happy 4th,remember all who serve.
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 to 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.
....
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 levey 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.
[The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America]
No, the resolution for independence was passed on the 2nd. The final wording of the Declaration was approved on the 4th.
Therefore, we became independent on the 2nd. You, however, can celebrate Declaration day, if you like!
LOL! I do have a bit of bias, since my birthday is the Fourth. (hence the 7-4-80)
WHATEVER BECAME OF ... THE SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE?
The 56 patriots who signed America's Declaration of Independence pledged "their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor." Of the 56 signers, REMEMBER:
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Continental Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
They had pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. And they meant it!
What kind of men were they?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants. Nine were farmers and large plantation owners. They were men of means, and well educated. Yet they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well the penalty would be death if they were captured!
* Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
* Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
* Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
* At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
* Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
* John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.
* Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution.
These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
They gave you and me a free and independent America.
Lest we forget.
Thank you for the reminder of their sacrifices.
Independence Day
I saw a field of bright white crosses
All in neat little rows
Far into the sunny distance
All the little rows go
Tap, Tap the drum proudly
For the freedom you have won
Tap, Tap the drum
For the peace that you have brung
I see a banner folded tightly
Handed to the grieving rightly
Salute the fallen
With twenty one mightily
Tap, Tap the arms loudly
Red for the enemy’s skin
Tap, Tap the gun
Telling all we shall stand for the flag again
Thanks to all of them who had the courage to sign that document. May their ideals and beliefs never parish from this Earth.............. Happy Independence Day everyone!!!!
The vote on the resolution was delayed while a committee was appointed to prepare a declaration "to the effect of the said ... resolution". The committee consisted of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. On July 2, Lee's resolution was put to a vote and passed by 12 states to none; the New York delegation had received no instructions and did not vote. On July 4, the Declaration itself was passed by the same vote. On the 15th, the New York delegation having finally received instructions, the vote of that state was recorded for both the resolution and the Declaration, making both unanimous.
...great post! BTTT!
These guys:
Delaware • George Read • Caesar Rodney
• Thomas McKean
Pennsylvania • George Clymer • Benjamin Franklin
• Robert Morris • John Morton
• Benjamin Rush • George Ross
• James Smith • James Wilson
• George Taylor
Massachusetts • John Adams • Samuel Adams
• John Hancock • Robert Treat Paine
• Elbridge Gerry
New Hampshire • Josiah Bartlett • William Whipple
• Matthew Thornton
Rhode Island • Stephen Hopkins • William Ellery
New York • Lewis Morris • Philip Livingston
• Francis Lewis • William Floyd
Georgia • Button Gwinnett • Lyman Hall
• George Walton
Virginia • Richard Henry Lee • Francis Lightfoot Lee
• Carter Braxton • Benjamin Harrison
• Thomas Jefferson • George Wythe
• Thomas Nelson, Jr.
North Carolina • William Hooper • John Penn
• Joseph Hewes
South Carolina • Edward Rutledge • Arthur Middleton
• Thomas Lynch, Jr. • Thomas Heyward, Jr.
New Jersey • Abraham Clark • John Hart
• Francis Hopkinson • Richard Stockton
• John Witherspoon
Connecticut • Samuel Huntington • Roger Sherman
• William Williams • Oliver Wolcott
Maryland • Charles Carroll • Samuel Chase
• Thomas Stone • William Paca
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