They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
-Benjamin Franklin
As this is the day of us Americans Independence (well actually it's just the day that the Declaration of Independence was signed but who cares) I would suggest we all take a moment to reflect what makes this country the way it is (or should be). One way to do this is by at least skimming the U.S. Constitution. Believe it or not, just by skimming you're one step ahead from most of your fellow citizens.
If you're really inclined you could read parts of it to your friends and family, which I always feel I should do but never really follow through.
Oh yeah, and don't forget to enjoy the fireworks.
Update: In the spirit of historical accuracy, July 4th is actually the day the Declaration of Independence was ratified not signed. See here for more details and a nice history of the document. Furthermore, the year 1776 is somewhat contentious for a few people. Some would say 1783 should be the year we celebrate the birth of the U.S. as that's the year the British recognized our independence. Still others would argue that 1788 should be the year as that's when the U.S. Constitution was adopted. Take your pick. Thanks for setting me straight Paradox.
1 comment:
Tiny piece of trivia...from what I understand, the delclaration of indepence wasn;t 5sorry, I am on a Belgian computer and can;t find the apostrophe) signed until August of 1776 and all the signatures now believed to have been placed on the document on july 4 actually took several months to get there. at least tht;s what I heard. please research pump monkey. damn, the Q is where the A should be, this is tough.
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