Just a quick question on this Independence Day before celebrations begin with boats, barbecues, bratwursts and beers. Have you ever read the Declaration of Independence before? No, I mean really read it? Not just skimmed it or fake read it if it was assigned in a distant course sometime. Not just listened to what some commentator or thought about what some blogger had to say about it (yes, I recognize the irony here). I mean really read it like I did when my incredible high school teacher, Mr. Earsom, assigned it. By the way, he assigned it for us to read so that we could think about what it meant for ourselves and not just take his interpretation for it. That’s what great teachers do – they expose us to challenging content and have us think about the implications both historically and for current relevance. But, I digress….

I’m just wondering how many have actually read it? I’ll admit, we don’t use language the way Jefferson and his colleagues did. The concepts are challenging. The list of grievances are specific to events in the colonies. However, the words have meaning and consequences. This wasn’t some easy step to take. It’s why at the end the signers of the document stated, “…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.” Their businesses and livelihoods were on the line. Their reputation, integrity and dignity were on the line. Their lives were on the line. And they didn’t have the benefit of hindsight like we do to know how it would turn out. They were literally risking everything, yet, if successful, they might just gain even more and not for themselves alone but for those who would come after.

If you haven’t read it, or even if you have, maybe you should take a look and a few moments to consider what is being declared and what truths are “self-evident.” It won’t take all day. I even had students who memorized it and recited it to my classes. If you want to read the words for yourself and not just be lazily led on what to think of this document, here is a link to the National Archives with articles, images, explanations and a link to a transcript: https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration

If you want to dig a little deeper, here’s a bonus challenge. Read a speech delivered by Frederick Douglass at an Independence Day celebration on July 5, 1852 in Rochester, New York. It’s challenging. It’s unflinching. It’s also aspirational. Here is a link to an article from the Smithsonian Institute with another link to the speech itself. I heard it recited once and it still rings in my ears. https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/nations-story-what-slave-fourth-july

I loved teaching American history to students. I loved teaching the ideals and the realities and the strivings to become as stated in the Preamble to the Constitution, “a more perfect Union.” In the Gettysburg Address, President Abraham Lincoln called on all Americans to be “dedicated to the unfinished work” that soldiers had given their lives for. At the site of the largest battle ever fought on the North American continent and which ended on July 3, 1863, Lincoln called Americans to “…take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” (Here’s a link to the Library of Congress’ transcript of the Gettysburg Address https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.24404500/?st=text).

Those are words worth reading. Those are words worth reflecting upon. Those are ideas and ideals worth considering, both in the historical contexts of messy realities and human frailties and in the aspirational vision we can work to create in America. Let this be a challenge for this Independence Day and the days to come.

(Image is downloaded from the National Archives at https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.24404500/?st=text)