Happy Independence Day!!!

[wctriumph]

Happy Birthday America!!

[theGinsue]

Well heck, that pic makes me feel all patriotic.

[theGinsue]

I know many of you are history buffs like me so I thought I'd share a bit of history for those who may be unaware.

Today we celebrate the officially recognized founding of the United States of America.

Why today? Because (in this writer's [Ginsue] opinion) one of the two greatest documents in human history was signed and established the founding of our nation. But was it?

More precisely, more than a year before the drafting of the document we know as the Declaration of Independence, "The Shot Heard 'Round The World", which occurred on Lexington (MA) Common, was the opening shot of the battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. This truly sparked the American Revolutionary War and led to the creation of the United States.

Those first shots on Lexington Common were actually the culmination of years of frustration and anger towards a tyrannical government which gave nothing but took much. The writing was on the wall that we, colonies of Great Britain, had had enough and were ready to throw off the reins of that government and found one of our own. In 1773 colonists staged a revolt over the excessive taxes on tea by conducting what we now call the "Boston Tea Party". Other, lesser known, minor conflicts continued to occur, leading up to the Battle at Lexington and Concord. In the year following the battle, many additional skirmishes between the King's troops and colonists occurred. Each one provided further proof that it was past time for us to break away from tyranny and have our own nation where we alone would determine our destiny.

While we recognize July 4, 1776 as the signing of the Declaration (because that is the date on the document), it wasn't actually signed by most of the "Signers" until almost a month later. So why then do we claim "July 4th" as our nations birth? It's simple: A single day had to be chosen and since this is the day written on the founding document, this is the day we chose.

Here's a bit of history on the Declaration of Independence (copied from an online source so I don't have to remember it correctly on my own then type it all out):

June 7, 1776: Richard Henry Lee, a delegate to the Continental Congress from Virginia, introduces the Lee resolution, which might be considered the first draft of the Declaration of Independence:

Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances. That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation.

June 11, 1776: Congress set up a "Committee of Five" consisting of John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Robert R. Livingston of New York, and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, to put together what we would come to know as the Declaration of Independence.

July 2, 1776: Congress votes in favor of the Lee Resolution and starts to go over the work of the Committee of Five. Not surprisingly there are disputes and disagreements, and a few things get scratched out, rephrased, and rewritten.

July 4, 1776: Congress approves the Declaration of Independence. A "fair copy" is signed by President of Congress John Hancock. This is then rushed to printer John Dunlap, who works through the night printing out around 200 copies of the declaration. (The "Dunlap Broadsides," of which only about 30 now exist, are "if-you-find-one-in-your-attic-you just-became-a-millionaire" valuable.)

July 5, 1776: John Hancock starts sending out the broadsides. One is pasted into the Congress' journal; others are sent far and wide, including one to George Washington, who has it read to the Continental Army.

July 8, 1776: In the State House yard, Colonel John Nixon. Lieutenant-colonel in the Third Battalion of Associators, veteran of the Battles of Trenton and Princeton, commander of the defenses of the Delaware River at Fort Island, as well as the city guard, publicly reads the Declaration of Independence for the first time. The city bells ring in celebration well into the night.

July 19, 1776: Congress orders the Declaration be "engrossed on parchment." This meant writing it out entirely by hand, in ink, using a quill pen. The calligrapher was probably Timothy Matlock, an assistant to the secretary to the Congress Charles Thomson. Congress also orders a new title, "the unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States of America."

All of which brings us to:
Aug. 2, 1776: The Continental Congress meets at the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia to sign the engrossed parchment Declaration. It was a somber occasion as the delegates were well aware they were committing high treason (punishable by death) against Britain. Pennsylvania delegate Benjamin Rush later described it as a scene of "pensive and awful silence."

Ultimately 56 delegates signed the Declaration. (Not all of them could be there on Aug. 2, and some didn't add their names until months later.) As President of Congress, John Hancock signed in the center, in large letters. Then the rest of the delegates followed, in order of geographical location, signing from right to left. (I can provide the full list of signer's if folks really want to see it)



Just 10 days after the full signing of the Declaration, on August 10, 1776, news reached London that the Americans had drafted the Declaration of Independence. The signers sent a copy of the Declaration to King George III with only two names on it: John Hancock and Charles Thomson, the President and the Secretary of the Continental Congress. Only two names were included because they didn't want the British to have the names of all those committing treason!

This document so infuriated King George that he dispatched troops to squash this insurrectionist rebellion. American colonists were prepared for this and what occurred next is the topic of many volumes of books on the subject.

Ultimately the Continental Army, with French assistance (thank you Benjamin Franklin), forced the British to surrender in 1781. Even with an official surrender, fighting would not formally end until 1783 (then there was the War of 1812 which we can discuss in another thread).

In 1783 we, the United States of America, had finally won our independence.

[theGinsue]

What I find particularly frustrating and sad is just 247 years after so many have given their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to the values we once held so dear as to die for them, we have so many willing to abdicate the freedoms those values enshrined.

Since our founding we've continuously striven to ensure true freedom for all (which we didn't actually originally have), like women and people of color.

We've given hundreds of thousands of lives in battlefields in our own nation and across the world for these values but now we're seeing a growing populace willing to live on their knees to a government so they can feel safe and not be burdened with the need to decide anything for themselves.

As you enjoy your (over-taxed) beers and food from the grill, please remember what it truly means to be a "free people" and the sacrifices it took to accomplish.

[RblDiver]

Happy Independence Day! May we always remember the sacrifices that have brought us to this point.

[00tec]

There has been many rounds of freedom seeds spent out here today, hanging out with near and distant friends. Once this rain stops, we're putting on a fireworks show for the kiddos. Good times.
Especially like explaining the holiday to the kids that are curious why we enjoy it so much

[RblDiver]

Well, that was exciting. We nearly became one of those fireworks incident families. Thankfully they were normally ~20ft rockets, not the huge mortars, but seems we put it sideways instead of upright. Couple burns but nothing too serious. All I could do in the moment was put down my beer and cover the little one nearest me (I wasn't hit but my fiancee and her kiddo were a bit).

[TEAMRICO]

Now I know what it sounds like to live in Chicago for the night!





Now about this “If it leaves the ground it’s illegal in CO….”

I don’t think this was being enforced.
I thank you Wyoming.
Let freedom ring!