It Goes Something Like This...
Today is the 4th of July - Independence Day in America.
Seems pretty straight forward...a celebration of our freedom from tyranny.
Our proclamation to the world that AMERICA shall become (and will remain) a sovereign nation, free from the shackles of ANY king, despot, or dictator.
And it is with THAT principle in mind, that our Founding Fathers placed their lives and fortunes (such as they were, large or small) at stake for the God-given right to be free men; free to self-govern, and to establish THIS nation as one that would become a beacon to others seeking such liberty.
Sounds like pretty heady stuff, right?
I know, it's SO easy to forget the REAL meaning of this day, because we've got ALL those "sales" at every store, or we've got to have a cookout, or shoot off some huge, honking fireworks.
Now, it's perfectly okay to enjoy the celebratory aspect TO this day, as long as we still hold fast to what the almost overwhelming significance of today was...and still is.
We proudly fly our nation's flag in acknowledgement of that SYMBOL around which our troops and citizens rallied around.
We listen to music that is appropriate to the day, usually some band music or other patriotic fare.
We attend parades that embrace the sacrifices made by those who secured, and continue to secure OUR freedom and liberty.
Or do we simply just party-hearty until we're too pooped to party further?
Think about the sheer SCOPE of what these brave men (and women), white and black decided to do when they said "enough is enough" and broke from "Mother England". What these people did was TREASONOUS to "the Crown", and yet WE call them PATRIOTS, for they were the ones who risked everything for a CHANCE at true freedom. It boggles the mind to comprehend ALL that was involved...and by SO many who believed they had THAT RIGHT to govern themselves.
I would suggest the best place to start looking for the stories behind the stories is the local library...get your nose into the HISTORY of today.
READ the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE and our CONSTITUTION, and see what these people put forth, so that WE here today can all too often take for granted, for in fact, many of do just that.
Here, at this link, is the modern English text of our Declaration (against England):
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/
And it begins with words I recall us having to know in school So many years ago...
" 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."
Those words are POWERFUL.
They set the stage for the creation of a NEW nation.
It was from an "idea" that such words became the factual truth...and from that truth rose to become AMERICA.
Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is the nation's most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson's most enduring monument.
Here, in unforgettable phrases, Jefferson expressed the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people.
The political philosophy of the Declaration was not new; its ideals of individual liberty had already been expressed by John Locke and the Continental philosophers. What Jefferson did was to summarize this philosophy in "self-evident truths" and set forth a list of grievances against the King in order to justify before the world the breaking of ties between the colonies and the mother country.
We then needed a symbol...something that when displayed to others cried out "THAT is AMERICA...THAT is LIBERTY", and so it was that our nation's FLAG was created. And we should revere that symbol for what it represents.
We even created a brief acknowledgement of our devotion to our nation and her flag.
You might recall it as THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.
Here is the HISTORY behind our POA:
The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August 1892 by the socialist minister Francis Bellamy (1855-1931).
It was originally published in The Youth's Companion on September 8, 1892.
Bellamy had hoped that the pledge would be used by citizens in any country.
In its original form it read:
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty
and justice for all."
In 1923, the words, "the Flag of the United States of America" were added.
At this time it read:
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
In 1954, in response to the Communist threat of the times, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words "under God," creating the 31-word pledge we say today. Bellamy's daughter objected to this alteration.
Today it reads:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Section 4 of the Flag Code states:
The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag: "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.", should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart.
When not in uniform men should remove any non-religious headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute.
The original Bellamy salute, first described in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, who authored the original Pledge, began with a military salute, and after reciting the words "to the flag," the arm was extended toward the flag, palm-down.
At a signal from the Principal the pupils, in ordered ranks, hands to the side, face the Flag.
Another signal is given; every pupil gives the flag the military salute — right hand lifted, palm downward, to a line with the forehead and close to it. Standing thus, all repeat together, slowly, "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands; one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all." At the words, "to my Flag," the right hand is extended gracefully, palm upward, toward the Flag, and remains in this gesture till the end of the affirmation; whereupon all hands immediately drop to the side.
(The Youth's Companion, 1892)
Shortly thereafter, the pledge was begun with the right hand over the heart, and after reciting "to the Flag," the arm was extended toward the Flag, palm-down.
In World War II, the salute too much resembled the Nazi salute, so it was changed to keep the right hand over the heart throughout.
Now this is some pretty interesting stuff. I would have NEVER thought that a SOCIALIST would create something that means SO much to SO many Americans. Guess that's one way of turning a negative into a POSITIVE.
Now, don't think for a moment that the 4th of July celebration was ALWAYS sunshine and lollipops.
During the 1850s, Frederick Douglass typically spent about six months of the year travelling extensively, giving lectures. During one winter -- the winter of 1855-1856 -- he gave about 70 lectures during a tour that covered four to five thousand miles. And his speaking engagements did not halt at the end of a tour. From his
home in Rochester, New York, he took part in local abolition-related events.
On July 5, 1852, Douglass gave a speech at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence,
held at Rochester's Corinthian Hall. It was biting oratory, in which the speaker told his audience,
"This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn." And he asked them, "Do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day?"
Within the now-famous address is what historian Philip S. Foner has called probably the most moving passage in all of Douglass' speeches.
"What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?
I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.
To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sound of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants brass fronted impudence; your shout of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanks-givings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.
There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour."
So when I see those in my neighborhood, who NEVER work, and yet, find hundreds of dollars (somewhere) to buy enough fireworks to wake the dead, and then set them off with a drunken, quasi-joyous ruckus, it makes me wonder how much time THEY spent reading Frederick Douglass?
When you look closely enough, you WILL find history as it was meant to be presented...and remembered.
And why are they not in mourning over people of their OWN race, who suffer daily at the hands of their OWN kind?
Now, all Americans (should) know the Pledge of Allegiance, and the power behind those words, but HOW MANY of you know about THIS?

The American's Creed
I BELIEVE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AS A GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE; WHOSE JUST POWERS ARE DERIVED FROM THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED; A DEMOCRACY IN A REPUBLIC, A SOVEREIGN NATION OF MANY SOVEREIGN STATES; A PERFECT UNION, ONE AND INSEPARABLE; ESTABLISHED UPON THOSE PRINCIPLES OF FREEDOM, EQUALITY, JUSTICE, AND HUMANITY FOR WHICH AMERICAN PATRIOTS SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES AND FORTUNES.
I THEREFORE BELIEVE IT IS MY DUTY TO MY COUNTRY TO LOVE IT, TO SUPPORT ITS CONSTITUTION; TO OBEY ITS LAWS; TO RESPECT ITS FLAG; AND TO DEFEND IT AGAINST ALL ENEMIES.

The Creed was written in 1918 by William Tyler Page of Friendship Heights, Maryland in the course of a nationwide contest on the subject. Page was a descendant of President Tyler, and Representative John Page, who served in the Congress from 1789-97.
William Tyler Page began his government career as a Congressional page in December of 1881. In 1919, he was elected Clerk of the House of Representatives, and held that position until December of 1931. a new post, Emeritus Minority Clerk, was then created for him which he occupied until his death on October 20, 1942
Just another part of our history that goes unseen and unheard.
Here's more "unknown" history:
During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the American colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.
After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4.
A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:
"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."
Adams's prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.
Historians have long disputed whether Congress actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, even though Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it on that day.
Most historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed. (courtesy of Wiki)
So you can conclude from all of this (and more) that we do, indeed have reason to celebrate...BUT with perhaps a different reason.
We can come away from reading about the true meanings of today with a better sense of who WE are...as individuals...as a people, and as a nation.
We can tone down the frivolity a notch or two, and still hold true to the values of our founding documents.
We can keep Independence Day a day not just to buy a load of fireworks and set them all off, or party from sun up 'till sunset (and after), but to cherish the ideals our Founders put forth in order to be free from unjust rule.
And while fireworks and cookouts seem all too appealing, they are transient in nature, when compared to the importance represented by this day.
Hopefully, we will hold true to what makes AMERICA...well, AMERICA.
And we will teach generations to come about the TRUTH behind this day, and the people who shaped it.
Be well, enjoy the history and the holiday, make a difference to someone, and remember to...
Stay safe out there, America.