Sunday, July 4th, 2021 is the 245th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, an event unparalleled in the annals of history. Sadly, for many of us it is just another holiday that we take for granted.
This year, I ask each of you take time to pause and reflect on what the Declaration of Independence really means and why it is so important, and understand what our Founding Fathers were facing by writing and signing this document.
I know many of you are familiar with the part of this document that reads:
“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.”
But how many of you are familiar with the last sentence in the Declaration of Independence? It reads:
“And for the the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” (Emphasis added)
Below this were the signatures of the signers of the Declaration. The 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence are:
GEORGIA
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
NORTH CAROLINA
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
SOUTH CAROLINA
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton
MASSACHUSETTS
John Hancock
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
MARYLAND
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carrol of Carrolton
VIRGINIA
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
PENNSYLVANIA
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
DELAWARE
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean
NEW YORK
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
NEW JERSEY
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Matthew Thornton
RHODE ISLAND
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
CONNECTICUT
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
These men knew, that by signing the Declaration, they were also signing their death warrants. They knew that the British would consider them traitors and would execute them if captured, and yet they signed it anyway.
Such was the price these men were willing to pay so that we may celebrate the freedom that they helped give us every Fourth of July. I wonder how many of us living today would have been willing to pay such a high price for freedom.
Based upon what I’ve seen happening over the past few years, not very many.
Too many of us are content to sit on our ample backsides and pretend that everything will be alright, that our benevolent leaders in Washington, DC will take care of us and protect us from those who would destroy what our Founding Fathers fought and died for.
Sadly, nothing could be further from the truth. The stench of corruption that emanates from Washington has become almost unbearable. No longer do we have men and women of high moral character who represent the will of We the People. Instead, we have corrupt politicians who are beholding to Super PACs, lobbyists and special interest groups.
In just five short years our country will be 250 years old – if we make it. I wonder what our Founding Fathers would think if they could see what the country they fought and died for has become.
I hope and pray that there are still men and women among us, among We the People, who will stand up and fight for what is right – not with bullets but with our voices and our votes.
I hope you will join me on this Fourth of July in pledging to fight for our rights and liberties so that Government of the People, by the People and for the People shall not perish from this Earth.
Donald Trump’s new campaign slogan is “SAVE AMERICA”. I can’t think of a more appropriate slogan for all of us to adopt..
