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.
By Gary P Jackson
On this glorious day, let us celebrate the fact, that despite President Barack Obama’s best efforts, America is still the greatest nation the world has ever known!
On this glorious day, let us remember all of the sacrifices of those who bravely declared Independence from King George and the tyrannical British government.
On this glorious day, let us remember those rag tag farmers who fought against the greatest, best trained, best equipped army in the world, and were victorious!
On this glorious day, let us honor those brave men and women in our armed forces who have fought and sacrificed to make sure America and her people will always remain free.
On this glorious day, let us contemplate the great struggle ahead, as we face tyranny and oppression from the very people we’ve untrusted our Liberty and Freedom to.
On this glorious day, let us pledge, as our Founding Fathers did 238 years ago today, to stand up to a tyrannical government that not only seeks to destroy our Liberty and Freedom, but the very United States herself.
On this glorious day, let us pledge to defeat this Tyrant Obama, and defeat those who would seek to take up his cause.
On this glorious day, let us pledge to never allow another such tyrannical figure to hold an office of power again.
The United States of America IS the greatest nation the world has ever known, and we Americans are blessed as the greatest people the world has seen.
The Declaration of Independence is still one of the most enduring, and radical, documents the world has ever known. The notion of government of the People, by the People, and for the People is still the most radical idea in the world. The concept of individual sovereignty was unheard of before America. It is all uniquely American.
Despite all we endure, we are still the freest people on planet earth! That Freedom is a blessing from God. And it’s a Freedom we are obligated to maintain at ALL COST.
Today is a day of joy and happiness.
Today is a day to celebrate with gusto!
Today is a day to eat, drink, and be merry. To soak up the sun and enjoy all that life as an American holds!
Tomorrow we renew our fight against all those who would try and take all of this away.
Tomorrow is the day we renew our fight against those who seek to remake America rather than restore her.
Tomorrow is the day we let those enemies of Liberty and Freedom know, that in the struggle of Good vs Evil, we WILL prevail, as Good always does.
From the great Ray Charles America the Beautiful, performed September 18, 1972 on the Dick Cavett Show:
May God always shine his grace on thee.
May God always bless America and may God always bless the American people.
237 years ago today, a group of brave men stood up and announced their independence from an oppressive, tyrannical government. This bold act of defiance was indeed, treason. A signer of the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin noted: “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately. It was that spirit of comraderie and immediacy that gave their fight purpose.
Even though it may seem dormant, at times, it’s a spirit that lives in all Americans to this day!
Indeed, our founders fought a long and bloody revolution to create what has become the greatest nation this world has ever known. A nation that has been an inspiration, and a force for good the world over.
As Americans we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye on things and even had another, incredibly bloody war, a Civil War, over human rights, and man’s inhumanity to man. In the wake of that war, our nation has matured, grown up, if you will. As this maturation has continued, we’ve seen great things, and done great things, as a nation.
Our people have made countless life saving medical breakthroughs, created countless inventions that have changed the way the people around the world live their lives.
Though he didn’t invent the automobile, Henry Ford’s vision of an efficient system of mass production put the entire world on wheels as he sold tens of millions of his “Tin Lizzy” the Model T. And of course, other car makers around the world adopted, and even perfected Henry’s production system. The automobile has given the world great Freedoms they could only dream of before. The Freedom of movement at one’s own will, the Freedom to travel, explore, and discover …. at one’s own pace, and own route. It’s a Freedom that should never be taken for granted!
From creating a more efficient way to pick and process cotton, to inventing microprocessors so efficient they can do more work than computers that once took up entire rooms and even entire buildings!
In the early 1960s a young and visionary President addressed the nation and announced that man would go to the moon, and return safely, by the end of that decade.
When President John F Kennedy uttered those words, no one had any idea how this could be done. None of the technology needed to do this even existed. The rockets needed to take man into space, were still just as likely to explode on launch as work properly! But on July 20th, 1969 Neil Armstrong took his “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” and walked on the moon.
The amount of new discoveries and technologies created along the way to the moon is simply mind-boggling. And people world wide have benefited from those many discoveries and technologies. THAT is the greatness that is America
In the 1930s, while American’s struggled during government’s gross mismanagement of a fiscal crisis, that turned into The Great Depression, other nations struggled as well, many due to the same wrong-headed Big Government policies. In one of these nations, Germany, a great evil came to power and gripped that country. An evil that threatened to envelop the entire world in short order.
Though many considered America down and out, America’s vast industrial might cranked up. And her people joined the fight. America not only got back to work, we freed the world from the evils of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi movement, and the violence of Imperial Japan. Had America not existed, had her free and resourceful people not existed, Hitler’s “Thousand Year Reich” would have come to pass and the entire world would have slipped into darkness, possibly forever.
After the war, former allies, the Soviet Union showed their true colors, and set out to conquer the world in their own ways, spreading evil Soviet-socialism, communism, throughout the land. America fought against this great evil in many ways, but on January 21, 1981 a man would take the Office of President, who would set the wheels in motion that would see the end of the Soviet Union, and the freedom of hundreds of millions of people restored.
President Ronald Reagan never considered the Soviet Union a legitimate nation, nor did he consider socialism-communism, a legitimate ideology. He considered the Soviet Union an “evil empire” and his policy of peace through strength not only won the cold war, without firing a shot, it again made America a true world power, a power for good.
Yes, America and Americans, have, indeed, changed the world. Made the world a better place.
Today, as Americans, we still enjoy great Freedoms, but we also face many problems. We face problems that some feel are so overwhelming, that there is no cure. Some are so disillusioned they have just tuned out. Others are simply oblivious.
We face a true tyrannical government that no longer respects it’s employers, WE the People. In fact, our government “leaders” no longer consider WE the People, their masters. Today they have become the master, and we the slaves to their will.
We have an out of control President who has no respect for the Separation of Powers set forth in our Supreme Law of the Land, our Constitution. Nor does he respect the Constitution itself.We have a President who uses the full power of Government to outright attack groups, and individuals, who do not agree with his ruinous policies, or dangerous visions for America.
We have a Congress filled with some of the most corrupt, and morally bankrupt human beings this nation has ever produced.
Yes, I know there are also some good and decent men and women there as well, and we should count our blessings for that every single day!
We have a Congress though, whose members engage in all manner of corruption, looking to line their pockets, and the pockets of their cronies, rather than do the work of the American people. These corrupt members of Congress grow rich, and enrichen their cronies, on the backs of the American taxpayer.
Recently a huge majority of the United States Senate committed treason by passing a so-called “immigration reform act” that will give amnesty to tens of millions of criminal aliens from around the world, people who are here illegally, and should be forced to leave.
This amnesty will include violent criminals, thieves, gang-bangers, child molesters, wife beaters, and so on. This legislation, if allowed to advance into law, will give employers incentives to hire these newly pardoned criminals over American citizens. This treasonous legislation would further depress the already stagnant wages of American workers for decades to come. Oh, and it won’t do anything to stop the further invasion of tens of millions of more illegals!
The Senate amnesty bill is a direct assault on the American people, in favor of foreign nationals, that allows even more to flood our shores, unchecked. I should think no better definition of treason exists in any dictionary.
Obviously, the legislation must never be allowed to come into law, and those who created and promoted it must be held responsible: Treated as the traitors to the American people they have shown themselves to be. They should be punished to the full extent a traitor deserves.
Why am I saying all of this on this day, a day of great joy and celebration for the greatest nation the world has ever known? Because this IS the greatest nation the world has ever known, and inhabited by the greatest of people.
America, and her people have grown comfortable and complacent. America’s greatness and strength allows many to take our Liberty and Freedom for granted. American citizenship should be an advanced course in participation, but oft-times our citizens just go about their daily lives not even considering the events surrounding them, and how their very Liberty and Freedom is in grave danger. More in danger now, than at any time in modern history,
On this day of great joy and wonderful celebration WE the People must prepare for a new revolution. WE need not fight a bloody revolution, as our founders found necessary. No, WE the People, are in a much stronger position than our founders. But make no mistake, this will be a hard fight. One that would sap the strength and spirit of lesser men and women. But WE the People are NOT lesser men and women! WE come from a stock like no other on earth.
Even though we have people who have come from around the world, stood in line, and worked hard to join us as American citizens, WE are all indeed brothers and sisters in Liberty and Freedom. It is that melding of so many great peoples that has made Americans so strong, stronger than any other peoples who have ever existed! Even, if at times …. we feel that we are not.
On this day, this day of joy and celebration, this day we celebrate Liberty and Freedom, lets renew ourselves to preserving that Liberty and Freedom that so many died for to create, and have since died to preserve.
WE must all make it our work to save America from this tyrannical and out of control government. WE must all make it our work to inform and enlighten those who have been lulled into complacency. And WE must all make it our work to fight those who stand against us, with every ounce of our souls!
WE must never give up. WE must never surrender.
The Great Ronald Reagan saw America as that Shining City on a Hill. Though that light has grown dim in these dark days of tyranny, WE, THE PEOPLE can make that light glow brightly. Brighter than it has ever glowed before. WE have that power!
Let us all, on this day of great joy and celebration, re-dedicate ourselves to the preservation of Liberty and Freedom, and the defeat of the great tyranny that has infected our nation and our lives. Let us stand with those, both in government, and out, who have pledged their lives to preserving Liberty and Freedom, and the greatness of America. They are our brothers and sisters in arms!
God bless you all, and God Bless America, the greatest nation this world has ever known!
****
Please join me and enjoy this most beautiful rendition of “America The Beautiful” preformed by the incredible Ray Charles on the Dick Cavett Show September 18, 1972:
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.
~ Ronald Wilson Reagan 40th President of the United States
By Gary P Jackson
236 years ago, our founders wrote what has been one of the world’s most lasting and durable documents: The Declaration of Independence. For the first time in history a people declared themselves free from the tyranny of a monarchy. These rebels had the revolutionary idea that man was his own sovereign. That man, not government, should have the final say. That all men were created equal, and that man got his rights from “Nature’s God” not government. And that is was essential to RESTRAIN government, in order to protect those God given rights.
It was revolutionary then and just as revolutionary today.
Centuries later, America is still the freest society on earth. We enjoy an amount Liberty and Freedom that people in the rest of the world can only dream of. These Liberties and Freedoms weren’t just handed to the Americans though. The United States was born of a bloody revolution. Fought for by a people who cherished the idea of personal Liberty and Freedom, that man … not some little elite in a far away land … should control his own destiny. Men fought and died for the notion that We the People, not an all powerful federal government, should rule.
Throughout the history of the United States brave men and women have fought and died to preserve the notion of Liberty and Freedom. They understood that nothing is more precious, or deserves to be defended so tenaciously. As you celebrate America’s Independence today, stop and remember our nation’s military, and the wonderful men and women who serve. Without them standing guard, our Liberties and Freedoms would have been lost long ago.
Without America’s bravest, the entire world would be in peril. Any time you see a vet, please take the time to stop and than them for everything they do.
Today a great evil is gnawing at our Liberties and Freedoms. Our God given rights are under assault. There are many in power today that no longer believe in the ideals set forth by our founders, those who fought and died to give the world the finest nation it had ever known.
These people believe government is the only answer. That government must make every single decision for the people. That no one person has the ability, or right, to be a sovereign. That only an all powerful federal government can, and must, rule with an iron fist.
It wasn’t always this way. In 1787 our founders created a remarkable document, the Constitution of the United States. It’s remarkable in that it doesn’t give people “rights.” It doesn’t restrain or otherwise tell the population, as a whole, what it can and cannot do. In fact, it puts no restraints on law abiding citizens. Nor does it restrain the several states. Unlike any constitution written before or since, our Constitution was created to retrain GOVERNMENT.
Our Constitution is a covenant between the federal government and We the People. It’s a promise that government will never infringe on the sovereign’s rights. Even more unique is the promise to the several states not to interfere in their business.
This worked pretty well for most of America’s history.
A little over a hundred years ago “progressivism,” what we know know as socialism and communism, started to take hold in the United States, as it had in other parts of the world. Those who favor “progressivism” over the rights of the sovereign would eventually call themselves “liberals” since they ruined the word progressive. Make no mistake though, these people are neither “liberal” in the classic notion of the word, when it comes to a way of governance, nor are they “progressive.” These people are quite totalitarian and regressive in nature.
Those who preach liberalism and Big Government “solutions” want to to take this nation back to the dark days of oppression and enslavement. A place where those in government are considered royalty, and the rest of us are peasants. Peons who should be grateful for whatever our government allows us to have.
Those who push for Big Government want to take away the God given rights of the sovereign man, and the God given rights of the several states. It is their intention to create an all powerful, central command and control government. A federal government that literally controls every action of every man, woman, and child.
We now have a government that wants to control what you eat, what you drink, what kind of toilet you must own, and what kind of light bulbs you are allowed to purchase. Many of these outrageous assaults on the Liberty and Freedom of the sovereign are not because of some noble idea, or to protect the sovereign.
Behind many of these new laws and regulations are politicians’ desire to help out one of their cronies. Behind many of the onerous regulations, the draconian laws we are seeing, is someone with connections and an agenda. As they always say, follow the money, if you want to understand what is really going on.
Now I am not against making money. In fact, it is my desire to see all, prosperous and happy. But there are enough corrupt politicians and cronies that benefit from these tyrannical practices that our personal Liberties and Freedoms, as well as the financial health of the nation, are at great risk.
Lest you think I’m directing my anger exclusively at the democrat party, a party that long ago was taken over by socialists, neo-communists, and other assorted radicals and malcontents, I gotta say, there are many in the Republican party that are just as corrupt and just as evil. There are Big Government Republicans who will steal your Liberty and Freedom just as quick as any democrat!
People forget that our first “progressive” president was not a democrat. Our first Big Government oppressor was a Republican, Teddy Roosevelt. He ushered in the era of Big Government and federal activism.
Even those Republicans who don’t actively work to undermine the American experiment, the notion that man, not government, is the sovereign, are a problem. Spineless, gutless, and weak, many Republicans end up being enablers. Facilitators for those who seek to destroy Liberty and Freedom, and create that all powerful central command and control government.
It is the rare Conservative, within the Republican Party, who stands up and fights for We the People. These are brave and hearty souls.
Conservatives who still care about the old fashioned notion that man, not government, is sovereign, are in for the fight of their lives. Those who fight for smaller, more responsible, less intrusive government, get attacked from all sides. They are attacked by the democrats, the media, and the Republican Establishment™. Though Conservatives make up the majority of the population of this country, they are sparsely represented in our government. This is the problem.
Between the corruption in both parties and the abandonment of First Principles, the ideals our nation was founded on, America is in real and deep trouble. Our situation is dire.
The recent Supreme Court decision on ObamaCare is just the latest abuse. What Chief Justice Roberts did was rewrite the legislation, to fit a treacherous and hateful notion, that government is all powerful. That government can force you to do absolutely anything it desires, so long as it calls it a tax.
For the first time in our nation’s history the sovereign can now be unwillingly forced into an action, where before, the sovereign only faced regulations of certain activities they voluntarily chose to take part in.
Imagine this: We now live in a society where government can control your every action and compel you to do anything it deems fit, under penalty of law.
You don’t have to do anything except be alive and breathing, to be affected by this vile and despicable perversion of the Constitution. What the Roberts Court has done is effectively tear up the Constitution. With his vote, Chief Justice John Roberts has told the American people that the American experiment has failed. That Liberty and Freedom no longer matter. That the idea of man being the sovereign, and government the servant of man, is not worthy of protecting, and no longer exists. That all of those who died creating the greatest nation to ever exist, were fools for trying.
I love America and want nothing more than to celebrate everything that is good and great about her. I want to celebrate the fact that any American, no matter their race, sex, or creed can excel and prosper, so long as they are ready to do the hard work needed to make it happen. I want to celebrate the beauty of America. I want to celebrate the diversity of America, and the people who make this nation such a rich, wonderful and amazing place to be. It’s the people, not the government that make the American experience so great.
Today, as much I want to be carefree and just celebrate the birth of the greatest nation, and the wonderful notion that man can, and should, control his own destiny, I can’t. I just simply can’t.
The darkness and uncertainty that has engulfed our beloved country compels me to speak up and say: NO MORE!
We the People cannot and must not tolerate these abuses by our government. We can no longer sit back while evil men [and women] drain the life out of our great Republic.
Yes, I said REPUBLIC.
Many have forgotten why we are a Republic and not a “democracy” as some would have you believe. There’s a reason for this. In a representative Republic, one where politicians serve at the pleasure of the sovereign, the people, you have accountable and accessible representation. Or at least that’s how it’s SUPPOSED to work. Throughout history straight democracies have failed, mainly due to a complete breakdown which leads to mob rule.
After the creation of our Constitution it is said Benjamin Franklin was stopped on the streets by a woman and asked: “What sort of government have you given us?” Franklin’s reply was simply: “ A Republic, if you can keep it.” I can only imagine how horrified Franklin would be, if he were alive today, seeing what has become of the great nation he helped create.
Today our government no longer represents the people. No longer answers to the sovereign. We now have a Ruling Class no different than that of King George III who we fought to free ourselves from.
Look at some of the recent injustices. We have a regime that handed guns to narco-terrorists, leading to the slaughter of hundreds of Mexican citizens and the capital murder of at least two American federal agents, Brain Terry and Jaime Zapata. Guns from Fast & Furious may be responsible for the shootings near Corpus Christi, Texas on Tuesday.
The Obama regime facilitated all of this in an attempt to use these murders as a way to call for massive gun control and the complete usurpation of the 2nd Amendment. It was a brazen and cynical attempt to steal Liberty and Freedom from the American people. Sadly, neither Attorney General Eric Holder, nor President Barack Obama will ever be held accountable for these crimes against humanity.
Even though the American people, including LEGAL immigrants, strongly oppose amnesty of any sort for illegal aliens, “leaders” in both parties continually talk about “comprehensive immigration reform.” This is nothing more than fancy words for amnesty. I simply cannot understand the thinking behind the notion that we should grant citizenship to anyone who doesn’t respect the nation enough to come here legally and meet the longstanding requirements for citizenship.
It is a unique and wonderful privilege to be an American, whether by birth, or by choice. Those who would give amnesty to illegals or any other “reward” for their criminal activity, cheapen the American experience. They are saying it no longer has any value. They are saying that working hard and meeting the lawful requirements, set forth long ago, to become a citizen, are just too hard. They are saying that America is not worth enough for an immigrant to put forth the effort.
These politicians and activists have destined America to the ash heap of history.
In America we have a lawless and tyrannical president who picks and chooses the laws he wishes to uphold, even though he swore an oath to uphold them all. We have specific and long standing laws regarding immigration, both legal and illegal. The Obama regime simply chooses to ignore them. There are many other laws of the land the regime chooses to ignore.
On the other hand, this lawless and tyrannical president uses the full power and might of government to harass and intimidate all who oppose him. The regime routinely assaults both individuals and states who dare stand against it.
That brings us to ObamaCare.
This legislation was passed in the dead of night, using every parliamentary trick in the book, as well as handing out massive bribes [using tax payer money] to politicians who were reluctant to sign on.
No one who voted for [or for that matter against] actually read this monstrous legislation. To this day we are still learning of more usurpations of our rights, as well as massive taxes that have nothing to do with health care.
Of course, this is the bill that former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi infamously said when confronted with the fact no one had read the damned thing: “We’ll have to pass it to see what’s in it.” The arrogance was dripping from her lips as she said it.
ObamaCare is the blueprint that sets up the central command and control government liberals and neo-communists have longed for. The legislation itself is one of the most dangerous documents ever produced. The Court’s ruling takes away every restraint the Constitution placed on the federal government. What John Roberts did was declare the United States Constitution absolutely, and forever, null and void.
As the sovereign, we have two choices. We can just lie back and take it, as so many have for generations, while those in the federal government stole more and more of our Liberties and Freedoms, or we can stand up and say enough is enough.
For those of us who’d rather fight than switch, the road will not be easy. Both parties are filled with corruption. Both parties have members who have no use for the Constitution as written And both parties have men and women who worship at the alter of Big Government rather than the alter of God and the sovereign.
Many are highly disappointed with the Republican nominee for president. Some vow, what amounts to a protest vote, saying they will be voting for a third party or writing someone else’s name in. Worse, many vow to just stay home.
While those sort of antics may make the individual feel all superior with their “I’ll show them” mentality, now is not the time for “protest votes.” unless that vote is for the GOP nominee in protest of Obama.
Defeating Obama and his lawless regime is such a priority, if our nation is to survive, that nothing else matters. America cannot see another four years of Obama. The Republic will cease to exist. Your vote cannot be wasted. America is simply to precious and in too much peril.
Just as important as the presidential race, is Congress. Due to the fact so many democrats are up for re-election in the Senate, democrats who have consistently betrayed the Republic, we have a chance to take back the Senate. More importantly, there are many solid Conservatives running to defeat these democrats, and we have the chance to change the balance of what passes for leadership among Senate Republicans. And don’t forget the House. We will gain numbers in the House.
It will take this to repeal ObamaCare and unwind so much of the harmful legislation forced upon the American people.
Now what does it mean when I say we gotta vote for the Republican nominee for president, even though we are not thrilled or delighted by that prospect?
Well, I can tell you what it DOESN’T mean. I doesn’t mean we are giving up. Quite the contrary. While we know the democrat party is forever lost to radical neo-communists who have no respect for the nation, the sovereign, nor the Rule of Law, we might just be able to salvage the GOP. For now, that is our only hope.
What this DOES mean is the GOP is on notice. We are going to vote for you, simply because there is no other viable option. No other way out of the tyranny that has gripped the nation. No other way to stop a lawless and vicious regime. But once in office, we are going to watch you. We are going to work to make you serve the will of the people, and not act like we don’t matter, or are too stupid to understand what’s good for us.
The Republicans, if they capture the White House and Congress, must understand they will only do so with the help and support of Conservatives. Victory is unattainable without us. In return, we simply ask that they use the Constitution, not some radical ideology, to guide them. We demand that every law, every regulation only be enacted after careful deliberation and consideration of how they will impact the sovereign.
In short, we demand that these newly elected politicians remember they work for us. That they serve at OUR pleasure. We do not work for them.
2014 and 2016 are not that far off. We can and will reserve the right to replace those we elect, including the Republican president, if they forget who they work for, and what America is about.
As we celebrate today. As we reflect on our unique and most wonderful nation, and what makes it so great, I am renewing my vow to never stop fighting for Liberty and Freedom. To never stop holding politicians IN BOTH PARTIES accountable.
Will you join us as we work towards a more just and perfect union?
****
Though America the Beautiful has been sung by so many, no one delivers the passion or dynamics better than Ray Charles does. You simply cannot listen to this without feeling the emotions swell up inside. This is from The Dick Cavett Show September 18, 1972.
God bless America and may He always keep us strong and resolute.
****
The Declaration of Independence
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
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.
–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. 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 refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
* He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
* He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
* He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
* He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
* He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
* He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
* He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
* He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
* He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
* He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
* He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
* He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
* For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
* For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
* For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
* For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
* For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
* For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
* For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
* For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
* He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
* He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
* He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
* He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
* He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
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; 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 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:
Column 1
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
Column 2
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton
Column 3
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
Column 4
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean
Column 5
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark
Column 6
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
Independence Day is more than just a day Picnics, Fireworks, and a day off from work. It is about America’s Freedom and Independence. Yes, we all wear our Red, White, and Blue and we fly our American Flag’s proudly, but what about the true meaning of Independence Day, have we all forgotten?
On July 2, 1776 the Second Continental Congress discussed and debated a new proposal, The Declaration of Independence. The President of the Second Continental Congress, John Hancock, was the first among the fifty-six to sign this new profession. And on July 4, 1776 The Declaration of Independence was formally adopted. And it was official; America was finally its own, Independent Country. The American citizens could not have been more joyful.
For the longest time, when The Declaration of Independence was publically read, citizens would throw huge celebrations. And just that next year, in Philadelphia, guns were fired, bells were ringing and firecrackers were going off. It was a huge festivity for America’s new found Independence and Freedom from the British.
Even though The Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776, the War of Independence continued. But in 1783, the war had ended, the mission had been accomplished, and Independence had finally been grasped. In 1941 Congress officially declared Independence Day as a National Holiday.
Even now, we still celebrate Independence Day, and as we celebrate it this year let us not forget the great significance and the true meaning of this holiday. Let us never forget how blessed we are as Americans, and let this Holiday be a reminder of the great blessings God has bestowed onto America. And lastly, let us not forget our Soldiers, past and present, who have, and who are fighting for our Great Country.
Thank you for Reading, and I hope you and your family have a blessed and joyful Independence Day.
May God continue to bless America.
Madeleine McAulay is the co-founder of Youth For Palin. You can follow the group on Facebook, Twitter, and at their website. You can also find her at her new blog Faith Hope and Politics.
As we celebrate our the 234th Birthday of our Republic, I’d love to share one of the most beautiful and inspiring renditions of America the Beautiful, by Ray Charles
I know everyone is excited about the day, and has their activities planned out. From wonderful parades to BBQs, ball games, and rodeos, or maybe a magnificent concert and fireworks display, this is a day of fun and celebration.
As we celebrate the birth of our Republic, the greatest nation the world has ever known, I hope people will reflect on the founding. The fight to win Freedom and Liberty, at a time when tyranny was the norm, is the defining struggle for all of mankind.
On this day, take a little time to reflect on those 56 men who risked it all as they signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776:
Take time to visit the wonderful project, Constituting America, and check out what Janine Turner has going on, by visiting the website: http://www.constitutingamerica.org/
As one must never forget the sacrifices our brave men and women make to keep us safe and free, please take time to consider supporting one or more of these fine organizations who support our troops.
![sarah-marvelous-eyes-trig[2]](https://thespeechatimeforchoosing.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/sarah-marvelous-eyes-trig2.jpg)
A Time For Choosing 
