By The Topeka Capital-Journal
Recent polls and studies have shown an alarming number of Americans have scant knowledge of the history of this nation. That is not an affliction that can be cured in one day with a few hundred words, but Independence Day seems an appropriate time for a short primer on the birth of the United States of America and the reason for the celebrations all around us today.
July 4 is recognized as Independence Day because it was on that day in 1776 when the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, largely written by Thomas Jefferson, declaring independence from Great Britain. Historians disagree on exactly when members of that congress signed the document — some reported signing it on that day but many historians think it was actually signed on Aug. 2, 1776 — but July 4 has ever since been recognized as Independence Day.
Independence wasn’t won until years later with the final victory in the American Revolution, secured at Yorktown, Va., in October 1781. A peace treaty with Great Britain wasn’t signed until 1983, however, and historians recognize 1775 to 1783 as the war years.
The document adopted July 4, 1776, after the first shots of the war had been fired, declared the independence of the 13 states (no longer colonies) from Great Britain and listed the reasons justifying the separation. It did so in language that suggested the tone of the Constitution that would be drafted years later.
The Declaration of Independence is too long to be printed here. But because this is a history lesson, we’ll provide some of it, from the top:
“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.
“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. …”
The men who adopted and signed that document did so at great risk to themselves. Had the Continental Army not defeated the British, their fates would have been much different.
Those of us who celebrate today with food, fun and fireworks owe much to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence and those who fought to ensure its promise was fulfilled. Their history is worth remembering.
