In retrospect, it is easy to forget that the approval of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 was a revolutionary act. As Americans, we have celebrated the Fourth of July for 233 years, but we often forget that it took a war of eight long years to ensure the United States’ separation from the British Empire.
Since we know the outcome of that momentous event, we often take for granted that the Founding Fathers also knew that they would win. We forget that failure to secure American independence would possibly mean the Declaration would become their death warrant. One Declaration signer supposedly noted that, We must all hang together, prompting Benjamin Franklin to famously add, Or we shall certainly hang separately.
We forget that had the American Revolution failed, Britain would have likely branded the signers as traitors, and our Founding Fathers would have been executed, imprisoned or exiled.
Since we know how it all ended, we overlook that the Founding Fathers had no idea what would happen next. True, they had hopes and faith in their actions. John Adams rightly predicted that Americans would celebrate the anniversary of American independence as a holiday of jubilation. But the founders had neither guarantees that they were forging a new nation nor that its creation would still be celebrated more than two centuries later.
In July of 1776, they only knew that they were taking a bold step. The Declaration of Independence pitted a loose confederation of argumentative colonies against Britain, which was then the world’s predominant superpower with an empire and resources spanning the globe. The founders knew the hazards of this conflict while our generations, which have lived with the concept of America as a superpower for decades, tend to forget that our ancestors were financially and militarily overwhelmed.
So, we often skim over the courage and faith of the Founding Fathers based on our knowledge of the Revolutionary War’s outcome. Yet, we also take for granted the truly revolutionary idea that the founders proposed. The Declaration of Independence promised a new type of nation.
The most extraordinary idea in the Declaration of Independence — perhaps the most important and crucial line penned in all of American history — is “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
It is this one line, possibly more than any other in the document, which has led some historians to refer to the Declaration of Independence as “American Scripture.”
The Declaration is not a document of how a nation should be governed — that is the purpose of the Constitution. Instead, the Declaration of Independence and its words of equality have become the benchmark of the American Dream, a calling card for the nation’s purpose.
The Founding Fathers could not know how these words would shape their new nation and the world in the years to come. The majority of the founders took it for granted that equality extended only to land-owning, white males.
They likely would not have predicted that the Declaration would become a promise for all Americans, man, woman and child, regardless of race, religion or creed. They would likely be shocked to learn that the Declaration’s meaning is still debated today. But the promises of the document, of the Fourth of July, of the American ideal remain. It is a promise of freedom that we should never take for granted.
What We Think
What We Think: A promise for all Americans
- What We Think
-
-
Don’t jettison landmark
While we respect the request to relocate the F-86 aircraft from outside Mathis City Auditorium to the new Moody Air Force Base Airpark, we would hope the city and MAFB would reconsider moving it.
-
Shame in Berrien County
Unfortunately for Sherrie Williams of the Berrien County school-based health clinic, she talked to The Times and praised the program that she oversees. This pride in her work led to the loss of her job.
-
Grading policy: A second chance?
In clarifying the Lowndes County Schools’ controversial grading policy, Superintendent Dr. Steve Smith spoke of second chances.
-
Be up to any weather challenge
Georgia’s Severe Weather Awareness Week starts today and runs through Friday. The idea behind the week is to prepare Georgians for weather emergencies and how to keep these situations from becoming tragedies.
-
Parents and schools
There is a lot of talk lately about school systems and grading policies, and how all of a child's problems come back to a lack of parenting. But is it really that simple? Can it be a case where the school systems are so focused on the problem few that the majority of students are ignored?
-
Thumbs up, thumbs down
THUMBS UP: To Brooks County High School engineering and technology teacher Don Morgan and his students. They recently received national attention for their work with biodiesel fuel. They collect used cooking oil from area fast-food restaurants then process this oil into biodiesel. Morgan hopes to next interest the Brooks County school buses into running on the fuel created in his class. This classroom not only prepares students for the future but may prepare all of us for an alternative energy source.
-
Take me out to the ball park
The Valdosta State baseball season begins today. The Blazers host Lindenwood at 2:30 p.m. Nothing beats quality baseball played in warm weather with a great venue like Billy Grant Field.
-
What We Think: Signing Day
Wednesday was National Signing Day, the day when high school athletes across the country make official announcements about what school they’ve chosen to sign with.
-
School policy fails expectations
Lowndes County Schools recently implemented new grading guidelines for students. These guidelines have left many parents upset ...
-
Just the facts, please
The Times has taken some hits this weekend following the reporting of the Rev. Floyd Rose’ rally on Saturday concerning the car which drove into a home, killing an infant on New Year’s, and an incident at Pinevale Learning Center. Some police officers think the VDT is not being fair, and Rose accused the VDT of not printing the facts, but the facts are as follows:
- More What We Think Headlines
-
Don’t jettison landmark
