Annually Declaring Our Independence

The National Archives on the 4th of July, 2012

There's just something so stirring about Americans gathering in front of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC to listen to the Army's Fife & Drum Corps and to hear the Declaration of Independence read aloud on the 4th of July!

Presentation of colors by the Continental Color Guard

It's fitting to begin the celebration of our country's birthday by reflecting upon the reasons for our rebellion from a despotic ruler 236 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."

3rd U.S. Infantry's Fife and Drum Corps

It's right that the National Archives, the repository of our country's heritage, is a treasure that even today allows us to hold our leaders accountable for their words and their actions when weighed against our nation's history of documents and records.

"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."

My companion in heckling, hissing and booing grievances against King George III

It's fun to heckle and hiss and boo with fellow Americans when the actors portraying Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson angrily list the grievances the colonists had against King George III of England.

"He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good...He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries...He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.  He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 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....

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people."

It's challenging to consider if I would have had the courage to sign such a treasonous letter, knowing full well that the wrath of that ruler would be fixed upon me.  

"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."

Would I have had the courage of the 56 signers?

I can only feel grateful that the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence stood firm upon the courage of their convictions.  So, along with the rest of this morning's crowd gathered at the National Archives, I saluted each signer with a raised fist and a loud "Huzz-ah!" as each name was read.