The traitors who fought for this nation

In the eyes of the British, the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence were automatically considered traitors. Early in the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson wrote "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."

The signers of the Declaration, in today's verbiage, told King George III that they were seeking a divorce from the British throne. Implied is that they were declaring their independence from the British throne independent of any court ruling. That's the definition of mutiny.

Further, the Declaration read like an indictment, stating specifically why the colonies were seeking their freedom from the British throne. The colonies weren't seeking to dissolve their ties from the throne for frivolous reasons. Jefferson wrote "Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes..." The grounds for this divorce were substantive:

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.

The Declaration then lists 20+ specific charges of tyranny.

As a result of this Declaration, the signers knew that they'd put their necks on a chopping block if Gen. Washington's troops lost the Revolutionary War. They didn't sahy from what they saw as their responsibility. They took the situation quite seriously. That's why Jefferson wrote "That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. 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." The gravity of this historic situation dripped with seriousness. Courage, it is said, isn't the absence of fear. It's doing the right thing despite their fears.

These men of gravitas deserve our unflinching gratitude. This year, the Trump administration worked with Hillsdale College on a video series to teach us the history of the Declaration of Independence. This is just one of those history lessons:

Enjoy and Happy Independence Day!

Finally, Hubert Humphrey once delivered a speech on Independencce Day in St. Cloud. In that speech, he said that the United States are the only nation that sets happiness as a national goal:

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.

Happy Independence Day. Let's live lives worthy of the signers of the Declaration.