Hospitality, Friendship, Encouragement

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

July 4, 1776

  Declaration of Independence

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands 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. 
 www.allposters.com

 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...

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. 

New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
Source: The Pennsylvania Packet, July 8, 1776

I think this document and the Constitution have been overlooked for too long.  

I thought this last week that it was ironic that we are celebrating FREEDOM and INDEPENDENCE in a time when we have lost so much of what these men fought for.

We will celebrate today with a bbq and swimming, and getting to know new friends better, but we will also use these days to teach our children and now grandchild the true foundations.

To this my husband and I mutually pledge our lives, our fortune, and our sacred honor. 
www.allposters.com

4 comments:

  1. We printed off the Declaration and one of my hopes is to find a quiet moment to read it today. If I don't, I'll return here. Off we go between raindrops...

    Have a fantastic 4th!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amen! I LOVE that you posted The Declaration of Independence here.

    And sadly you are right, we have lost so much of the freedoms that the founders fought so hard and sacrificed so much for....

    ReplyDelete
  3. A very beautiful Patriotic post, We are re-reading this most treasured document today too! I am so blessed by your pledge, and like you was very disappointed with some decisions made this week. We certainly have much to pray about, don't we! Your day sounds wonderful, Thanks for sharing.
    Hugs,
    Sue

    ReplyDelete
  4. I couldn't agree more about them being overlooked.

    How can anyone rightly vote for representation in this republic, if he doesn't understand the very principles upon which it was founded?

    ReplyDelete

Welcome to Creekside Cottage - a place of Hospitality, Friendship and Encouragement!

Things I Like

  Brenda from It's A Beautiful Life blog did a post with this title and I enjoyed her list so I thought I'd do something similar. He...