Independence Day 2023: Honoring a bold Declaration, hoping for more progress.

Thomas Jefferson had me with “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” I first fell in love with the Declaration of Independence as literature in Mr. Yaktine’s American Government class. The man was uber-passionate about civics and all things history and brought me under his spell. Because…all these years later and 247 years after it was published, I still consider the Declaration to be one of the most eloquent documents ever written. 

When my daughters were young, too young actually, I read the Declaration to them ritually for several years. They accused me of child abuse. Of course they picked and poked at me during the reading and produced all kinds of distractions. Inevitably, they would be bored to tears and begging for release as I read Jefferson’s case for the United States of America. Especially painful for them was wading through the usurpations and punishments King George wrought on the colonists. Curiously, at some point in their young lives, they started paying some attention and even asked questions about America’s battle for Independence. “No, Thomas Jefferson didn’t start the war. The Revolutionary War had been going on for over a year when the Declaration was published. It would be another eight years before the War was over and even longer before America had a real government.”

The last paragraph was always money though, as Jefferson clearly stated that these colonies were divorcing themselves from Great Britain. That closing paragraph, WOW! He brought it all home with a humdinger summation, presenting a united front from the Representatives of the United States of America in General Congress. He appealed to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of their just cause. And the closing – “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,” always brought me to tears.

The unvarnished truth of the Declaration, though, is a bit complex. For example, Thomas Jefferson expressed thoughts that had been percolating around the world by Enlightenment philosophers like Montesquieu, Rousseau, Locke and Hume. Natural Rights, which Jefferson called inalienable, were basic human rights to which every human creature should be entitled. Then too, it was tinged with hypocrisy: Most of the founders who signed the document were slaveholders – so much for all men are created equal. And that line that brought me to tears, well, the founders who were deep in debt to the Bank of England would see their debts go away and fortunes rise by victory. The British surrender at Yorktown was the founding fathers’ lottery ticket.

Today, my wife, daughters and I had text exchanges wishing each other Happy Independence Day. Jokingly, I suggested a zoom call for a ritual reading of the Declaration. One daughter laughed and said she’s “not feeling like hearing much from the founding fathers these days.” The younger daughter concurred. I get it. Our founders were imperfect and they created an imperfect government. We were divided in Revolutionary times; loyalists wanted to remain with the crown, progressives wanted to move forward as an independent nation. But those flawed men – no women – did create a noble idea of America. In nearly 300 years, we have moved at a glacial pace toward a more perfect union. I’m not naïve about the past or the present. But I still believe in the hope of America’s future and its influence in making a better world. I believe that my neighbors coast to coast are good, well-meaning citizens who care about friends and strangers. As a nation, we can do better and should do better in fulfilling a promise made in 1776.  Happy Independence Day! Long live America.