By Today as we awaken many will gather all across the Nation to enjoy this day with cookouts having the staples of our country from hamburgers and hot dogs to beer and bratwursts. Those who immigrated here may have some of their traditional meals to honor the celebration. Today is not only about having a day off to celebrate our Nations Birthday but to celebrate and honor those brave men and women that settled this land and fought for this land to become the United States of America.
On this 4th Of July we celebrate 249 year of freedom from foreign control of the United States of America. The Declaration of Independence was originally drafted by Thomas Jefferson. These brave leaders worked diligently to prepare a new form of government that represented the people and their God. “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” . Once completed and ratified by the 13 Sate representative they signed this historic document knowing their lives would forever be in imminent danger. They would have to deal with the consequences of their actions against the King and citizens who did not want to break from British rule. Their signing put them on public notice everywhere, which could lead to imprisonment or immediate death if apprehended by the opposition leaders. The grievances stated in this historical document were listed one by one which gave the representatives the power to abolish British rule and form a new Nation with a new form of government never see before in any country.
The Bill of Rights written extensively by James Madison listed the rights the new Nation would uphold for the people. They contained the first 10 Amendments outlining our God given rights which no government should have the power to take away. From these Bill of Rights we have our Freedoms listed from Freedom of Speech to Power of the States vs Power of the Federal Government. This historical document was ratified in 1791. Many laws have been passed which go contrary to the original intent of these rights and have ended up in our court system going all the way up to our Supreme Court with the 9 Justices having to rule on whether these laws violate the Constitution or not.
On this day let us not forget those who sacrificed their time, their liberty, their families, their freedom from persecution as well as their lives to honor these values written into our Constitution and our Bill of Rights. Our Army turned 250 in June, their sacrifice helped to create the greatest nation in the world. Later this year we will celebrate the 250th birthday of the Navy and Marine Corp. Those brave individuals also helped to create this great nation during the Revolutionary War along side the Army. Let’s give thanks to all those men and women who have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice for our freedoms that we often take for granted.
