July 6, 2016

Independence Day  

By Tammy Derouin

Do we really understand the meaning of Independence Day?  Do we even care to understand what was taking place 240 years ago and the events which led to such an extraordinary document? 

Families, friends and countrymen must have faced a great divide.  Do you remain loyal to your oppressor; the one who provides for you but keeps you enslaved or do you break free and live with uncertainty and the ability to forge your own path?  Freedom demands responsibility.  It is not the responsibility of the government to provide the citizens with their daily necessities and desires.

The colonist didn't ask for their independence or freedom; they declared it.  They declared to the world why it was necessary to break ties with Great Britain. This was not a decision which was taken lightly.  “Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”   The Declaration of Independence.    

After declaring their independence, they listed their grievances so the world would understand what led them to break free.  “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.  To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.”  The Declaration of Independence.

The very first injury and usurpation is a noticeable reflection to our present day.  The Declaration of Independence states, “He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good!”  Others include, “He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.” “He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:” There is a long list under this category which includes, “For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:”

The Declaration of Independence is an extraordinary document.  It is well worth taking a few minutes of your time to read.  As you read, you will be amazed at some very striking similarities to those of today. Not all are currently taking place but, it is easy to see that it wouldn’t take much more centralized power to bring those to life as well. It is shocking to see where we once were and what was done to correct our enslavement, compared to where we are now, in present day, and the lack of understanding and or desire to make corrections. 

One of the last grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence stands out now, more than ever, “He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.”  Indeed, something to ponder.

Signing your name on such a document and to take up arms against oppression and tyranny, was treason and punishable by death.  What was considered treason?  King George III stated, “A traitor is everyone who does not agree with me."   How interesting. Look at what has happened to so many who have opposed the current administration. When a society is ruled by man rather than by law, you get laws by proclamation, which can shift as easily as the wind.

These past several years have been extremely difficult to comprehend.  The executive branch has become a centralized power. We have watched attack after attack on our rights and freedoms as well as our founding principles. There is a blatant disregard for the rule of law by the current executive and his administration.  The Declaration of Independence should serve as an eye opening reminder of why our forefathers declared themselves independent and free.

There is an eerie and unsettling feeling as we walk down this chosen path.  Our forefathers and the generations before us walked out of darkness and guarded our path so that we would live free.  Why would we want to return to enslavement, to darkness?

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

The Declaration of Independence