There are at least 237 reasons to salute the U.S. — one for each year of its existence.
On Thursday, July 4, we celebrate the birth of this great nation, and exalt its freedoms, largesse, and splendors that continue to be powerful rays of light for the world’s disenfranchised people, who are rightfully convinced that in America lies a better life than the one they left behind.
The Founding Fathers well-recognized those reasons. They knew instinctively that human beings have an undeniable birthright to live full and free lives, unfettered by coercion and oppression. They also knew the juggernaut of change begins with a handful of courageous idealists.
The nation’s co-creators exemplified valor, and their bold visions grace one of the most masterful documents of our time, with the amazing ability to inspire and uplift, 237 years later.
On July 4, 1776, they unveiled the Declaration of Independence, laying the foundation for a fledgling democracy that has since delivered on the hopes and dreams of countless generations of immigrants, who have helped America ascend to the throne of right and might.
The American story personifies 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 inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Those exhilarating words are as incontrovertible today as they were on July 8, 1776, when Col. John Nixon read them aloud to a rapt crowd from the steps of the Pennsylvania State House — four days after the Second Continental Congress declared its independence from Great Britain.
Those words also made history. They propelled a determined, threadbare fighting force towards a bloody revolution that emerged victorious against the omnipotent British. They established the right of Americans to choose their own government. They helped to create a new land that would become the irrefutable leader of the free world. They foretold the extraordinary triumphs and successes that would distinguish the unique American character. They set the stage for the sacrifice, work, and grace that has championed the U.S. onward for 237 years.
The American soldier has died to preserve this country’s dominion and preserve her values, while the American worker has helped to sow her unrivaled growth and prosperity.
Thursday is a red, white, and blue opportunity for liberty lovers to hail the land of the free and the home of the brave, and to thank her for her incomparable contributions to humanity, while reflecting upon how wretched the world would be without her.
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Read Shavana Abruzzo's column every Friday on BrooklynDaily.com. E-mail here at sabruzzo@cnglocal.com.
