Some national holidays are far too important to relegate to just one day. We at Courier Life and Brooklyn Daily feel that Independence Day is one of those holidays that we should be celebrating all year long.
There are at least 236 reasons to salute our great country — one for each year of its existence.
Each reason flies as brightly as its Stars and Stripes, for when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for Americans to set aside an annual day to hail the birth and triumphs of our nation, paying respect to all our nation’s fine patriots — both past and present — requires that the happy occasion be prolonged so each day is a red, white, and blue one.
On July 4, 1776, our founding fathers inked the Declaration of Independence and laid the cornerstone of a fledgling United States of America. The document, unprecedented in its scope and vision, has defined democracy and become a peerless beacon of hope for the generations of immigrants who continue to arrive here 236 years later in search of a better life — one more reason to party hearty well after the last noisemaker has been tooted.
Their hopes, dreams, and stories embody the truths that Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston — the Committee of Five which drafted and presented the great manifesto to the Second Continental Congress — held as 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.”
Those determined words stirred a bloody revolution, freed us from the clutches of British rule, and asserted the right of Americans to choose their own government. They remain as impressive and irrefutable today as they were 236 years ago when they set the stage for a brand new land that would become the undisputed leader of the world.
They also foretold our extraordinary national successes, none of which could have been possible without the major sacrifices, hard work, and boundless vision of the American people.
Our valiant soldiers have surrendered their lives on the battlefield to defend our liberties, our mighty rank-and-file has contributed to the tidal force of American labor and enterprise, and our federal government has championed democracy in oppressed regions everywhere. Not bad for a nation still in its infancy!
That is why we sincerely hope that the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave, today, tomorrow, and every day after that — in fact, for all eternity.
