Growls

Most Americans know that Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, but how many know the rich history of our founding document. PatriotPost.US says it best: “so many of the threads in our national history run back through time to come together in one place, in one time, and in one document: the Declaration of Independence.” Following is the introductory paragraph of a short history of the Declaration of Independence:

“Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is at once the nation's most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson's most enduring monument. Here, in exalted and unforgettable phrases, Jefferson expressed the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people. The political philosophy of the Declaration was not new; its ideals of individual liberty had already been expressed by John Locke and the Continental philosophers. What Jefferson did was to summarize this philosophy in "self-evident truths" and set forth a list of grievances against the King in order to justify before the world the breaking of ties between the colonies and the mother country. We invite you to read a transcription of the complete text of the Declaration.”

To listen to some patriotic music while studying the history of the Declaration of Independence, Astute Bloggers link to five You Tube videos. And Thomas Sowell explains why patriotism is relevant in this IBD op-ed.

Finally, here’s a sampling of three editorials from today’s editions of the Washington Times, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. The Washington Times uses its editorial space today to reprint the entire Declaration of Independence. The Washington Post argues “the great American venture really” didn’t “get rolling” in “July 1776 in Philadelphia,” but rather “around Jan. 1, 1815 when Gen. Andrew Jackson was faced with the need to save the very important city of New Orleans from the British army.” In closing, however, the Post does point out that “the 1776 dream of liberty and independence . . . has remained the country's greatest motivational force.”

It’s hard to find any sense of patriotism in the Independence Day editorial of the New York Times, however. Titled “The Meaning of a Day, it begins: “It makes sense to think of the Fourth of July as the start of a season and not as a one-day holiday moored off by itself.” It ends even worse: “This is a good day to be sitting on an ice chest full of something cold to drink in your own backyard, watching the grill smoke and waiting for the fireworks off in the distance that say high summer has finally come. That’s how much better it is to be celebrating the Fourth of July than the Ninth of December or the Eleventh of February.”

It’s worth noting what John Adams, a member of the Committee of Five “appointed to draft a statement presenting to the world the colonies' case for independence.” wrote to his wife, Abigail:

“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.”

UPDATE (7/5/08): Let me add the Heritage Foundation's blog, The Foundry, as a resource for this post if for no other reason than they point out that many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were captured or imprisoned by the British for having signed it.

UPDATE (7/6/08): Visit this page at Wall Builders for a short video of the history of the Star Spangled Banner. Listen and watch a reading of the Declaration of Independence (6:04 minutes) via You Tube, with HT to Gates of Vienna and Redneck's Revenge.