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Over two hundred years ago, a group of patriots who believed in freedom and equality for all risked execution for treason in order to build a nation on the principles they believed in. This was culminated in a Declaration of Independence being signed on July 4, 1776.
And 233 years ago today, a man who would one day become president wrote a letter to his wife Abigail. John Adams expressed poignant thoughts about the founding of our great country, of the blood and toil it would cost to make it, and how the price was almost too great. Here is an excerpt from that letter:
I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.
You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. — I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. — Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.
There are two things I want you to get out of this letter.
First and foremost is a reminder not to lose hope. I know that these are dark, troubled times for us. I know that a lot of Americans are looking at their futures and the future of this country thinking, How are we ever going to get out of this? It seems bleak, hopeless.
It’s not.
This country, no matter how hard the struggle to preserve it may be, is still worth fighting for and it can still be saved. Think about the battle that our Founding Fathers had to fight to make this country a reality. It should put things in perspective for you. Our Founders were great men and women, yes. And their greatness and wisdom should serve as an inspiration to us. What would have happened to our country had more men not stood up to follow in their footsteps, like Abraham Lincoln did? Most of the people we look at as ardent patriots are just Americans who love their country and the ideals it stands for, and wanted to keep the American dream of freedom alive. What will happen to that American dream if we become dejected and hopeless? In this generation, we need more than just Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindal to step up and be the conservative voices for the wisdom expressed in our Constitution. Every single person reading this — it is your responsibility as well to defend America and her ideals. We all know that. You can do it in small ways and large ones. Some people do it by joining the military to fight to defend our rights. Some get involved in freedom-loving organizations like the NRA or the Daughters of the American Revolution. Some run for office in an effort to keep the right principles in politics. Others simply stay involved, and make their voices heard. However you choose to do it, it is your duty to defend this country, just as our Founding Fathers saw it as their duty.
Do not give up. Do not lose hope.
The other thing I want all of us to remember is just what the Fourth of July stands for. It’s more than a day for cook-outs and fireworks. It’s more than a national bank holiday. It’s more than just listening to a few patriotic country songs while you’re grilling burgers in your backyard. Remember the ideals and principles this country was founded upon. Remember the patriots who have fought and died defending those ideals and principles over the last 233 years. Give thanks to God that you were so blessed to be born and to live in the greatest country that this world has ever seen. That’s what the Fourth of July is truly about. Be unashamedly patriotic every day, and not just on the Fourth… but tomorrow, be sure to take some time to reflect on what this country stands for and how much we’ve fought for and sacrificed to get where we are today.
No matter how bad things may seem, we are still the luckiest people alive. We are Americans. And I’m still proud.
Hat Tip: Michelle Malkin
“It seems bleak, hopeless.
It’s not.
This country, no matter how hard the struggle to preserve it may be, is still worth fighting for and it can still be saved.”
I’m going to start calling you Dagny…hope you get the reference 🙂
Great find on the letter and very important…wrote a little something myself at Corrupt, hope you enjoy that and the comments – and your 4th in the new location!
http://www.corrupt.org/news/american_revolutionary_spirit
THE 4TH OF JULY
Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
What kind of men were they?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists..
Eleven were merchants,
nine were farmers and large plantation owners;
men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the
British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown , Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.
Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn’t.
So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It’s not much to ask for the price they paid.
Remember: freedom is never free!
I hope you will show your support by sending this to as many people as you can, please. It’s time we get the word out that patriotism and the Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball games
Melinda P says: You forgot one thing that is the most important thing we can do for our country to be a patriot. We can pray for our nation, our leaders, and everyone in our country. We can pray that God would turn our nation back to Him, and thank Him for the wonderful country we call home!
Have a blessed Independence Day! Thank Matt for his service to our country for me and my family. If it wasn’t for men and women like him, we would not be able to sing about a land of the free and home of the brave!
CaptDMO says: Am I the only one who sees Fourth of July Fireworks as a reminder of what the sky overhead can look like when other venues fail, and liberty MUST be taken, and defended, from tyrants and their agents.
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