Celebrating US liberty

245 years ago today, the greatest team of leaders ever put together in the history of this planet declared our indepence from the tyrannical (at the time) British throne. The Declaration of Independence is one of the most influential documents in the history of the planet.

If you haven't read the Declaration recently, you should. Once you've read it, you'll immediately understand that the 1619 Project is propaganda that should be rejected immediately. The first 2 paragraphs of the Declaration lay the foundation for who we are.

It says "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.

"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 of 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 shewn, 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."

The thought that "Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" was radical thought. It introduced the concept of citizens. The British throne thought of people as subjects, not citizens with rights.

Today is the day that We The People ought to celebrate our membership in the greatest, longest-lasting experiment in liberty. The 1619 Project plays games with US history. For instance, it says "For hundreds of years, enslaved people were bought and sold in America." Though that's true, it's also misleading. America is different from The United States because of the Declaration and the Civil War.

When the first slave-filled ship arrived in Virginia, most nations had slaves. There are still countries with slaves. The thing that sets us apart is that we, slowly but surely, liberated the slaves.

Hannah Nicole-Jones insisted in the original edition that the Revolutionary War was fought to retain control of the slaves. Jones said this despite the fact that the British throne was silent on the subject of slavery.

Today is a day worthy of celebration. 245 years ago, 57 men declared our independence from the British throne, then went to work to build the most free, most prosperous nation in this planet's history.

Final thought: US citizens take for granted more rights than many nations 'give' their citizens. Think about that awhile.