July/August 2003 President's Perspective

“In any struggle, it is essential to know two things: what you are fighting for and what you are fighting against. If knowledge of the former is absent, the will to win will be lacking. If knowledge of the latter is absent, confusion and uncertainty will result.” — Author Unknown

In honor of our country’s celebration of independence, I’d like to take a moment to recognize those men responsible for the rights and freedoms we enjoy today.

In the summer of 1776, the Second Continental Congress was sitting in the State House in Philadelphia. On June 7, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia rose and put a remarkable proposition before the house which was seconded by John Adams of Massachusetts:

Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.

At the time, the war was already a year old; the “shot heard round the world” had been fired at Lexington in April of the preceding year. The colonials had raised an army and were waging war, but it was not a war for independence. They had been waging a loyal struggle for their rights as Englishmen.

The man chosen to formally declare the reasons for independence was Thomas Jefferson, a 33 year-old lawyer and plantation owner from Virginia.

That Jefferson did his job well is obvious to anyone who has read the Declaration of Independence, particularly his statement of the self-evident truths 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.”

On July 3rd, Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration was submitted to the delegates from the 13 Colonies, and he suffered the pain of all authors at the hands of editors - in this case, half a hundred of them. The debate continued into the Fourth of July and, in Jefferson’s own words, “seemed as though it would run on interminably. (…some things never change, do they?)

The revisions were completed on the evening of July 4th, the document was adopted without dissent, and the Declaration of Independence was ordered proclaimed throughout the United States. Only John Hancock signed the declaration that day, and a formal signing by all the delegates was scheduled for August 2nd.

The 56 men who eventually signed the Declaration of Independence were under no illusions. They knew they were committing high treason against the Crown and that the penalty for doing so was death by hanging.  Few, of the original signers of this “Declaration of Independence” would ever reap the rewards of freedom.

On the day of the signing, August 2, 1776, General Washington had 10,000 men under his command. Off the coast, more than 130 British ships sat at anchor. The Signers had already received word that those ships contained 42,000 sailors and soldiers who were awaiting an order to join the forces already ashore. They represented the most powerful nation on Earth, and their task was to crush the rebellion and arrest the leading traitors. Every man who put his pen to the Declaration knew that he faced the wrath of the king and his ministers.

Eleven delegates were prosperous merchants, nine were wealthy farmers or landowners, and 24 were lawyers or judges. The colonies’ most respected doctors, educators, and clergymen were numbered among their ranks.

In point of fact, disaster and ruin was the lot for many of the signers. Nine died of wounds or hardships during the war. Five were jailed and brutally treated. One lost all 13 of his children; and the wives, sons, and daughters of others were killed, imprisoned, harassed, or deprived of all material possessions. Seventeen signers lost everything they owned, and all of them were hunted as traitors, with most separated from their homes and families.

But none of the signers ever betrayed his pledged word. There were no defectors.

No one changed his mind. Lives and fortunes were lost, but their sacred honor was never sacrificed. Half continued to serve their country after the war - several as President, many as members of Congress, governors, and state legislators and a number of them played a role in drawing up the Constitution of the United States.

These men were heroes in the greatest sense.  Because of them, we live in a country today which guarantees us the right to fight for what we believe in – without threat to our lives and our families.  We need to remember their sacrifices when we feel to busy to make it to the polls or contact our legislator about an inequitable tax proposal.

Celebrate your independence!  It’s more than a right – it’s a privilege.