Independence Day

July 4, Independence Day in the United States of America, is a day commemorating revolution.

It is a day to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a document stating that subjects of the King of England in North America were in rebellion against his governance.

We highly recommend that you read words of the Declaration.

Declaration of Independence
National Archives

Among the many things the Declaration says are these progressive and liberal notions:

• 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 ...


• ... whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government ...


• ... 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.


• The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. ...


• ... He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.


• ...For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:


• ...For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:


• ... For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:


• We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States ...


• 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.

Independence Day is meant to be a national holiday in celebration of key principles and ideas that establish freedom and liberty for us as individuals and for us as a national community.

Though it was necessary to engage in an open, armed rebellion against the established government of Great Britain, this is not, therefore, primarily a day about war.

Yet, this is what a right-wing, militaristic, political faction in this country is attempting to convert 'the Fourth of July' into ... yet another holiday for the glorification of violence and subservience to the military.

For instance, for Independence Day, our local suburban newspaper inserted this week an entire special section full of photographs and accounts of veterans of wars of the recent past entitled "A Tribute to Service." Of course, it is full of advertising with 'Fourth of July' themes and proclaiming support for 'our troops'.

In our view, this is either craven profiteering by the newspaper on the service of veterans, or part of an effort to turn Independence Day into yet another holiday dedicated to war ... or both, of course.

The 'Drudge Report' this morning headlines its web page with a photograph of U.S. soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan -- nothing to do with the Declaration of Independence that we are celebrating, but again equating liberty with war.

Earthside asks good Americans to reject the propaganda that Independence Day is all about "the troops" and "the veterans" ... this is a day less about them and more about why ... why soldiers fought for this country, but also why Benjamin Franklin (not in the Continental Army) and Thomas Jefferson (author of the Declaration and not in the Continental Army) and John Adams (not in the Continental Army) and thousands of other good patriotic Americans throughout our history contributed and sacrificed for freedom and liberty and ... were NOT part of the military.

The originally anti-war Veterans Day (Armistice Day) and Memorial Day (Decoration Day) -- both dedicated to reminders of the horror of war -- have been hijacked by those who glory in war and seem to want a special class of citizenship conferred upon 'veterans'.

Let us be vigilant to keep Independence Day, the Fourth of July, true to its genuine meaning ... we are all advocates for freedom and liberty who hold with the principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, signed on this day 233 years ago.