Fourth Should Be First Among Holidays

After 236 years of fireworks, the meaning of the Fourth of July has lost much of its sparkle.  This once sacred holiday now exists as an excuse for retail sales, backyard barbecues, baseball games and beer swilling.  Most Americans no longer remember why the day is such a cause for celebration.

That is unfortunate because July 4, 1776, was not only the most important day in United States history, but a turning point in the tide of human affairs in world history.

On that date, 56 courageous men risked their fortunes, their safety and their future to approve the Declaration of Independence. Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.  There were 11 merchants and tradesmen and nine farmers.  The remaining minority worked in varying professions.

The declaration's approval came two days after the Second Continental Congress had voted to sever ties with Great Britain, no longer bound to English rule.  The British screamed "treason!" and vowed to rein in the unruly rabble who had ignited this revolution.

After approving the declaration on July 4, the document wasn't officially signed by the brave band of 56 until August 2, 1776.  The original draft was authored by Thomas Jefferson, who made revisions after it was scrutinized by others serving with the Virginian on a five-man committee.

Printer John Dunlap cranked out 200 copies of the 1,330-word document and distributed the broadsides throughout the thirteen colonies.  The publication sparked spontaneous public celebrations in the newly minted nation.

In succeeding years,  parades, speeches, prayers, festivals, troop reviews and fireworks marked the historic occasion.  By 1791 the celebration became known as Independence Day and was adopted as a federal holiday in 1870.   In the intervening decades, the Fourth of July's importance faded, a sad turn of events considering the document ushered in a new era of democracy.

The Declaration of Independence changed the very concept of government.  

Until that fateful date in 1776, it was generally accepted that governments and monarchs dictated what rights their citizens would enjoy.  It was the prerogative of the powerful to rule their subjects. The writers of the Declaration of Independence boldly proclaimed that notion was balderdash.

In this United States, the government derived its "just powers from the consent of the governed."  It was a novel concept untried and untested.  Furthermore, the authors made it clear that people's rights were God-given, not doled out by a benevolent government. That revolutionary idea shook the world.

Citizens of countries throughout the world took notice.  Governments were toppled.  Kings and queens were beheaded.  The whiff of freedom wafting across the oceans from this nascent country changed the course of history for people everywhere.

Over the years, the Declaration of Independence has been held up as a roadmap for democracy.  Many countries have borrowed some of its language in drafting their own constitutional documents.

Yet here in the United States most Americans take their rights for granted.   They've never known a country without freedom. Too many are just as happy to have their government curb the rights of others for their benefit.  Alarming numbers of Americans view their government as the answer to every question.

Americans need to look no further than the U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding Obama Care, the ungainly health care law that forces every person to buy government-approved insurance. Under the legislation, the government can stick its nose into every facet of an individual's health care.

Those early patriots would be horrified at the government's usurpation of individual rights under Obama Care.  They believed in limiting the role of the government because they feared what could happen if it became too big and too powerful.  The nation's highest court has ignored the wisdom of those who risked everything in the name of freedom.

Reserve time this Fourth of July to read those 1,330 eloquent words penned more than two centuries ago.  Study the truths contained in that great document.  Then insist that our nation live up to the ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.