We say, “Happy July 4th,” but what do we mean by this?
We mean “happy Independence Day,” celebrating the birth of a unique nation, destined to become the wealthiest, most powerful nation, most free in the world.
The 4th addressed the world with a Declaration, which said, “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.”
The document was signed by 56 white men who transitioned from British subjects to American citizens. The document that justified freedom was treason to the British and could have been the Colonial’s death warrant.
The signers, most of them, believed in God, and promised the “pursuit of Happiness.” Not the attainment, necessarily, but even the pursuit was a novel concept.
Their words were backed by bayonets, to which I will return in a minute.
First, as has been observed before, the “all men are created equal” passage was flawed.
First, no mention of women. (Generously, we could read “men” as meaning humans.)
Second, the majority of Black men (and women) in the new nation were slaves. There’s no getting away from that.
There’s also no getting away from the fact that the British brought slavery to North America in 1619, and Americans ended it in 1863, 87 years after July 4th.
So I can understand why some Black Americans boycott July 4th. “Some,” but none I know.
Among those I don’t know, and do know, Juneteenth has been widely accepted.
I recently heard Opal Lee, the Texas teacher who organized the push for Juneteenth, say she celebrates the period between June 19 and July 4 as days of freedom.
What a great way of looking at it.
While we celebrate freedom, we should pause to give thanks to the men and women who pledged “to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
Those were the closing words of the Declaration and many of the signers later were impoverished, some were incarcerated and tortured, and thousands of American farmers, tradesmen, tinkers, potters, teachers, cowboys and merchants laid down their lives in a mismatched battle against the world’s greatest military power.
The Patriots were outgunned, they were beaten like a drum in early engagements, but they were led by a wily general who fought from cover and used retreat as a strategy.
George Washington was a brilliant general who later became a sterling president of an embryo of a Republic, and established a mold for sacrifice and relinquishing power that all his successors followed, well, until you-know-who.
So let’s remember the Patriots who paid for our freedom in blood and treasure — the men and women, whites and Blacks, those born here and those who arrived from overseas to join the fight.
As many as 70,000 Americans died, in what some revisionists — looking at the 1619 Project — try to recast as a battle to save slavery, white privilege and landed gentry.
That is bullshit. What you learned in the 4th grade has more truth than the pathetic woke rewrite sponsored by the guilt-stricken The New York Times.
I am stunned by the self-hate flowing from the further corners of the Left.
The liberals I grew up with loved their country.
I can’t say the same of progressives, who find every way to belittle it, magnifying every tiny molehill flaw into a mountain of hate.
Some of them won’t acknowledge the Fourth.
They won’t be missed.
Bravo, Stu. This needed to be said.
Thank you. Feel free to share.
No one could ever accuse you, Stu, of being bereft of Independent Thought. Especially this July 4th.
Thank you.
HAPPY SUNDAY !!!
pallie,
Nice job. I’m surprised that you compressed our early fight for independence into so few words. That will never happen with Tony ‘long winded’ Clark.
Sad to say, people today don’t put much value on anything that they don’t own. Actually, that started way back when and gathered a lot of steam in the ’60s. We actually were educated in our youth. U.S. History was its own subject. Sorry to say, not enough was said or taught and most obviously, nothing is taught today.
You touched on the divide between Tory and Rebel. If you spoke favorably for freedom from the crown amongst those that worshipped the king, then you had a problem. It could have been as bad as you stated or, if you really were on a soapbox, you were hanged. Your family was tossed ( to put it mildly ) and all of your possessions were taken back.
Fast forward. My problem with everyone that has an agenda is this. They have never been out of our country, visiting a third world country. Sorry. Going to a fashionable island for a two week vacation doesn’t count. Going up into the hills of some of these islands – especially after dusk – will get you robbed or worse. My buddy took me to the Dominican Republic. He took me places where foreigners don’t dare go. These progressive people that want to embrace socialism should try visiting these places.
“to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” Stu, when using this phrase today, you must talk slow. Probably crayons and one syllable words would help. Be ready to spend a lot of time educating the learned.
Lastly. Way back when. White MEN ruled. Actually, in almost all peoples, the man ruled. Woman was a possession, just as children property and everything else that was HIS and his alone. Sure, there were exceptions, but after royalty, you’ll be spending a lot of time doing research.
I say, Thank You to those brave men and those that supported the cause. They were willing to give everything for independence. I can do no less.
Tony
You – long winded? What makes you say that Tony? LoL
and these are the short versions. Stu yells if I take up two pages……
🇺🇸
Tony,
As always your argument if full of holes, biases, preconceived ideas and generalities. How many of the people or what percentage of them whom you castigate (presumably you are referring to liberals) have never been to a third world country? How many MAGAs and repugnants have? I don’t think we have a good answer to either of those questions.
Second, the DR is not a socialist country; it is a representative democracy. This is not so say it can be a terrible place.
Third, I have been in many third world countries. I won’t list them here. But what I learned is that many of those are rife with violence and poverty. Those that call themselves socialist are not — they use the moniker to hide corrupt oligarchy. This includes Nicaragua and many of the SA countries. Cuba is a “socialist” dictatorship that calls itself democratic and is as shitty a place now as it was under Batista. Same conditions, different names.
Fourth, I note that you use the DR as your example (albeit erroneously) but not the ones where social democracy actually works and people are happy with their governments.
Fifth, you ignore your own country where the number of people living in extreme poverty in 2022 is expected to lie between 657 million and 676 million. Have you been to rural Mississippi, Alabama or Appalachia? I have in my year of mandatory service project with Americorps during my graduate school days.
As I have stated many times, I am not a progressive nor a true liberal, nor am I a conservative. I hold views from both ends of that spectrum. I do, however, appreciate a cogent and well reasoned argument. And yours is neither. Happy Sunday.
Wanda,
Please revisit your statistics regarding poverty in the USA. I don’t believe 200% of our total population is living in “extreme poverty”.
This is for Wanda Freeze.
I have been meaning to write this to both of you for a while now but unfortunately have not gotten around to doing so. Both of you need to be commended in how you respond to the idiocy posted here by a few people. Each of you have quite a bit of patience when dealing with them and you do it by stating your thoughts in a clearly expressed manner. While I am normally a patient person most of the time, I do not show it here.
Wanda, one of the things that Tony said to you showed me your demeanor when you mentioned about you and your husband starting 7 businesses. Tony replied and part of what he said was:
“𝙊𝙗𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙡𝙮, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚(𝙨) 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙮(𝙨), 𝙨𝙤 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙢𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙤𝙪𝙩.”
Why would he say something like that? To me it is because he is a very small pitiful person who enjoys trying to ridicule people who do not subscribe to his way of thinking. It may also make himself feel good by ridiculing others. If you had mentioned what any of your businesses were / are I believe he would have tried to find something in hopes to embarrass you.
I truly hope both you and Freeze stay around here for a long time.
I am sorry I meant to say Wanda and Freeze.
still HAPPY SUNDAY !!!
Wanda, et al,
I try to speak in generalities. Many of these Island nations call them selves one thing and obviously are not. As far as I’m concerned, many of the countries in Africa and South America are ‘third World’.
Granted, I don’t travel any more, other than a few states to see family. Previously, over many years, I travelled ( worked ) in almost every state but the deep south. I worked on every continent except Antarctica. ( turned it down because I couldn’t commit the time. ) What I have seen in these desolate countries is far worse than any reservation that I spent time on. I’ve been to the mountains. Stayed with people ( in the ’70s ) that were raised in one room cabins complete with dirt floors. The fuel that lit the lantern came out of the same jug that you drank from.
I am willing to stand by my belief that few people have ventured off the beaten path. The days of the Peace Corp are over. The few churches that send their volunteers/missionaries out into the world are fewer than their used to be. Why would someone want to hiking in a forbidden place. As for the Dominican. Wanda, if you went ( by yourself ) where Ramon took me, you would not be making a return trip.
Again, I speak in generalities. Since I’m retired, I don’t have to quote specs for construction. Building Codes are a distant memory and I have no intention of having a serious conversation in this arena. What I say can easily be verified. You look it up, I’m not wasting my time.
Just to keep involved in community affairs, I am on the Zoning Hearing Board, the committee that is reviewing our Zoning Ordinances, the Subdivision and Land Use Ordinance and last is the Comprehensive Plan.
Just for clarification. When I made a statement concerning your business enterprises, I wasn’t looking to attack you as suggested by someone who specializes in cheap shots. No, I congratulate you and wish you success. I’m just curious as to the type of business that you two get involved with. Some people like small hands on businesses. Others like corporations. I know people that are in both arenas. It’s in their blood and for the most part, it’s their adrenaline rush.
Extreme poverty here in the U.S.. I stated before somewhere. As an example, Wal-Mart played the best game of all. When it was ‘legal’, they kept their ‘full time – part time employees’ at the max 21 (?) hours. No bennies. WE – our government – picked up the costs of medical, food and other basics. That was the doing of the SWAMP ! Not democrats. Not Republicans. SWAMP DWELLERS ! That is a good example of forced poverty. That is why I am a Republican. That is why I constantly yell, DRAIN THE SWAMP ! and VOTE THEM ALL OUT !
Tony
👍 Keep on keepin’ on, Tony.
At the risk of sounding political (and what I am about to say is NOT political), the bit about LIFE in the preamble is also flawed. One cannot have life is one is killed before being born. But I always remember what William F Buckley, Jr. wrote: “Yes, we [the USA] are sinners. But we are sinners who seek to be saints.” In other words, what makes the USA unique it its ability to accept its flaws (slavery, a great example) and move to correct the error.
Stu, thank you for your essay. I, too, wonder what has happened to the Left, to cause it to hate so deeply.
I am grateful to be a citizen of the United States. Like my ancestors, I am a flawed individual living in a less than perfect nation and governed by a less than perfect system. It is also the greatest nation on this planet that allowed me to live a life of some achievement and some comfort. Less than perfect? My country has not always been right, but my country is always my country.
As you ramble through Life, Brother,
Whatever be your goal.
Keep your eye upon the doughnut,
And not upon the hole
👍
If equal opportunity for all, Medicare for all, social security, equality in education, and truth in media are radical concepts, then you may gladly color me a radical liberal socialist. I suggest you all read historian Heather Cox Richardson’s piece today for some excellent perspective. Peace.
Sorry, forgot the link! https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-2-2022?r=6nwwi&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Great post, Stu. We need to be reminded more often. Thanks.🇺🇲
Oops. Wow I apologize to all informed people. Misspoke by a whole lot. . That was the WORLD poverty rate. I’m US is >11.4% or ~ 37 million.
And let us not forget 159 years ago today Pickett’s (failed) Charge was yet another step toward the fulfillment of these certain unalienable Rights.
I am a proud, Patriotic citizen of the greatest country in history, The United States of America.
And I, too, have visited Gettysburg.