When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds 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 to 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. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. ...
We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought 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; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.
With these opening and closing lines of the Declaration of Independence, along with the bill of particulars against King George III, a group of brave men assembled in Philadelphia 232 years ago today made the case for freeing themselves from the yoke of British rule.
Sometimes it takes someone relatively new to this country to remind us of the precious gift bestowed on us by Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Marblehead's Elbridge Gerry and their fellow signers.
"On that Fourth of July (1776), a miracle happened — the birth of the first real, workable democracy in world history," the Rev. Claudio Lopes of Peabody, who ministers to the Brazilian immigrant community from his Community of Christ Church, wrote in a recent letter to this newspaper. "On the Fourth of July, the ideal and the dream of the past philosophers and statesmen became true. And more, those ancient dreams and ideals have been surpassed. The United States of America, since that Fourth of July, has been a shining city on the hill, a beacon of freedom to the world."
Indeed, the document remains a reference point for peoples of other lands straining to free themselves from the tyranny of self-declared rulers and military regimes. And, as Lopes' words make clear, it remains an inspiration for those who would come here in search of a better life for themselves and their families.
It's a fortunate fact of history that those men representing the 13 colonies had both the intellect to make a strong case for freedom and the courage to risk the wrath of the king in order to secure it. Their actions then and in the years that followed laid the groundwork for these United States of America.
Somehow, as was the case in 1776, the right person or persons have stepped forward when the country was most in need of strong leadership — Abraham Lincoln when the slavery question threatened to tear the nation apart; Franklin Roosevelt who saw it through the Great Depression and World War II.
Our current travails, however painful, don't match those faced by George Washington, our first president, Lincoln or Roosevelt. But let today's holiday serve as a reminder that we need to consider very carefully the person we choose as the 44th president in November.
