Posted on 07/04/2024 2:06:06 PM PDT by JeepersFreepers
There was no difference between July 3, 1776, and July 5. By all outward appearances, the American colonies were no more free and no more independent. Practically speaking, the governing structures were not different.
So what makes the Fourth of July so special?
Think about it. We do not celebrate October 19, 1781, the date the war for American independence ended. There are no parades commemorating September 3, 1783, when the Treaty of Paris formally concluded the war.
No, we celebrate July 4, 1776. That is the day when our Founding Fathers firmly, finally, and officially committed themselves—their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor—to the cause of American liberty.
Now, make no mistake: many of them had done so personally and individually weeks, months, even years earlier. They already had an army, and blood had already been shed.
Yet, the Fourth of July is celebrated because that is when they formally, out loud, with one voice, declared their independence. They acknowledged to each other and a candid world that they were dissolving their political ties with England.
We celebrate their commitment to the fight. It is a recognition that, in the most important ways, by choosing to declare their independence, they had already achieved it.
Nearly all of our Founding Fathers were men of faith; they understood that the struggle upon which they were to engage may or may not be successful in the eyes of the world. That didn’t matter; they achieved freedom in their choice, declared on the Fourth of July, and the fight ahead was merely the necessary consequence.
On Independence Day, we celebrate our Founding Fathers’ commitment to the ideals of self-governance. On Independence Day, we celebrate their willingness to exercise their convictions for themselves and for us.
On this Independence Day, let us recommit ourselves to their founding convictions. Let us recognize that refusing to accept the yoke of tyranny is the highest expression of liberty.
As it was in 1776, so it is today. The real difference between July 3rd and July 5th is what we commit ourselves to on the Fourth of July.
On the 5th day, the signers of the Declaration of Independence rested.
Seems like every prominent X account is featuring a 4th of July message this morning, and I have noticed something.
Conservative accounts are celebrating the ideas of personal liberty and freedom that make up the essential framework of the USA.
Democrat accounts are instead aggrandizing the idea of a “democracy” “under attack” because the nation’s electoral processes may result in an outcome they dislike.
We on the Right believe in freedom. The Left believes in imposing the woke will of the Marxist collective on everyone, by force if necessary.
That’s the difference.
The Left just has a skewed idea of democracy that is more akin to communism. So they always say “democracy is under attack” when the concept of personal freedom and the ability to live outside of their control is brought up. Democracy itself is just a general idea, by the way, which is impossible in itself to implement. We live in a more specific form of it: a constitutional representative republic, which can actually work if we’re vigilant and don’t let it erode.
So what makes the Fourth of July so special?
HOTDOGS!
April 19 , 1775 is when it started. The British tried to take away American guns and got a fight instead. July 4th is when the politicians finally made official what was already in play.
This is all generally wrong.
There is a famous painting of all the founders gathered to sign on July 4th.
It’s wrong. There were British spies everywhere. The individuals could not all travel safely to arrive the same day. Too much danger of arrest.
There was no one signing ceremony. They trickled in one by one over a lengthy period of time to sign.
Seriously, signing that document was a death sentence to them if the British caught them or if we had lost the war. They were all taking one hell of a chance.
In October, in October,
We declared our victory!
In October, in October,
Our forefathers gave us a new world!
In October--New World!
The British soldiers faced a difficult march back to Boston after the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775.
The British, despite achieving their tactical objective, suffered heavy losses during the retreat.
Harassment:
Minutemen harassed the British troops throughout their 18-mile march back to Boston, firing from behind cover.
Casualties:
The British suffered 273 casualties, including 73 killed, 173 wounded, and 26 missing. The colonists suffered 95 casualties, including 50 killed, 39 wounded, and 5 missing.
Retreat:
The British abandoned weapons and equipment to speed up their retreat.
Atrocities:
The British committed atrocities against locals, including the alleged scalping of a soldier, in response to the casualties and the retreat under fire.
The parchment copy that they signed wasn’t ready on the 4th. I think most of them signed on August 2. Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last survivor of the Signers, wasn’t in Congress yet on July 4.
Of Theodore Roosevelt it was said he was like a constant Fourth of July celebration. Of William Howard Taft, the next President, it was said he was like the 5th of July (when everyone is tired out from the day before).
WRONG! The 2nd Continental Congress passed the measure approving the declaration on the 2nd of July. It just didn't get its first public reading until the 4th.
Thats a long time to keep the coals lit. Werent the buns stale by the time the last one arrived? Lame party.
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