July 4th is only the date

Gonz

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
The holiday is Independence Day.

In April 1775 as the King's troops advanced on Concord Massachusetts Paul Revere would sound the alarm that "The British are coming, the British are coming" as he rode his horse through the late night streets. The battle of Concord and its "shot heard round the world" would mark the unofficial beginning of the colonies war for Independence.

The following May the colonies again sent delegates to the Second Continental Congress. For almost a year the congress tried to work out its differences with England, again without formally declaring war.

By June 1776 their efforts had become hopeless and a committee was formed to compose a formal declaration of independence. Headed by Thomas Jefferson, the committee included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Philip Livingston and Roger Sherman. Thomas Jefferson was chosen to write the first draft which was presented to the congress on June 28. After various changes a vote was taken late in the afternoon of July 4th. Of the 13 colonies, 9 voted in favor of the Declaration, 2 - Pennsylvania and South Carolina voted No, Delaware undecided and New York abstained.

To make it official John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence. It is said that John Hancock signed his name "with a great flourish" so "King George can read that without spectacles!."

The following day copies of the Declaration were distributed. The first newspaper to print the Declaration was the Pennsylvania Evening Post on July 6, 1776. On July 8th the Declaration had its first public reading in Philadelphia's Independence Square. Twice that day the Declaration was read to cheering crowds and pealing church bells. Even the bell in Independence Hall was rung. The "Province Bell" would later be renamed "Liberty Bell" after its inscription -

Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof

And although the signing of the Declaration was not completed until August, the 4th of July has been accepted as the official anniversary of United States independence. The first Independence Day celebration took place the following year - July 4 1777. By the early 1800s the traditions of parades, picnics, and fireworks were established as the way to celebrate America's birthday. And although fireworks have been banned in most places because of their danger, most towns and cities usually have big firework displays for all to see and enjoy.
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Declaration of Independence

Constitution of the United States

Bill of Rights

The founding papers of our great country, a blessing & precursor for freedom around the world.

#228
 
Let eagle shriek from lofty peak
The never-ending watchword of our land;
Let summer breeze waft through the trees
The echo of the chorus grand.
Sing out for liberty and light,
Sing out for freedom and the right.
Sing out for Union and its might,
O patriotic sons.
Other nations may deem their flags the best
And cheer them with fervid elation,
But the flag of the North and South and West
Is the flag of flags, the flag of Freedom's nation.


This day should remind all of us to appreciate the freedoms we take for granted. They were not always ours...they were fought for and won. Many lives were lost so that you and I and our families would be able to live as free people.


O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife.
Who more than self the country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice,
for man's avail
Men lavished precious life !
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!


Nifty site:

http://www.njagyouth.org/liberty.htm
 
The Other One said:
This day should remind all of us to appreciate the freedoms we take for granted. They were not always ours...they were fought for and won. Many lives were lost so that you and I and our families would be able to live as free people.
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AFAIK, they only got rid of the british and sadly they didn't get rid of slavery. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
 
You're wrong.


AMENDMENT XIII
Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified December 6, 1865.

Note: A portion of Article IV, section 2, of the Constitution was superseded by the 13th amendment.

Section 1.
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Section 2.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
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FOURTH_OFJULY.sff_NJBP101_20040704222348.jpg
 
Happy Independance day!

I was glad to see that several of the American flags were at half-mast (in Malone and Chateaugay,NY) yesterday despite the fact that the beheaded Marine was born in Palestine.
 
Luis G said:
Tell me how I'm wrong, if they abolished it until 1865, not in 1776.
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re-read your question
Luis said:
AFAIK, they only got rid of the british and sadly they didn't get rid of slavery. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
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You didn't say when & we no longer have slavery.
 
^^ The type of reply I expected.

Apparently, you are able to decipher every context within a sentence EXCEPT the one the person posting it meant.
 
When somebody has nothing good to say why should I dechiper anything. I'll gladly respond to a carefully worded & exacting sentence with the same.
 
MrBishop said:
Happy Independance day!

I was glad to see that several of the American flags were at half-mast (in Malone and Chateaugay,NY) yesterday despite the fact that the beheaded Marine was born in Palestine.
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From the wire service:

WASHINGTON (AP) - The nation ended its formal mourning over the death of President Ronald Reagan on Saturday, when flags lowered to half-staff could again be flown at full-staff.

President Bush ordered flags flown at half-staff for 30 days after Reagan died June 5 at age 93.

White House spokesman Jimmy Orr said, however, it was decided to raise the flags early, over the Fourth of July weekend, "in honor and tribute to the memory of President Reagan."

The lowered flags flew over days of funeral ceremonies in Washington and California.

The president's order raises U.S. flags flown over the White House, federal buildings, naval vessels.
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From Foxnews.com 7-06-04:

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The family of a Lebanese-born U.S. Marine held hostage in Iraq said it was confident Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun had been freed and was well, though relatives have not heard directly from him, his brother said Tuesday.

"We have received reliable information the guy is free," Sami Hassoun told The Associated Press from the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, where the Marine has family....Other militant groups have captured and threatened to behead other foreign Muslim hostages, creating an uproar among many Muslims, including other militants. All the captured Muslims aside from Hassoun have been released unharmed.
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Gonz said:
When somebody has nothing good to say why should I dechiper anything. I'll gladly respond to a carefully worded & exacting sentence with the same.
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I'll word it carefully, but deep inside I feel you will find yet another meaning in my words.

A) People fought and died to accomplish the Independence from Britain.
B) A souveirgn nation not necessarilly provides freedom to its citizens.
C) The people who fought for the Independence of your country only got rid of the british but kept slavery.
D) They (people in C) fought for the souvergnity of the USA.
E) They (people in C) didn't give you the freedoms that you take for granted today.
 
Luis G said:
I'll word it carefully, but deep inside I feel you will find yet another meaning in my words.

A) People fought and died to accomplish the Independence from Britain.
B) A souveirgn nation not necessarilly provides freedom to its citizens.
C) The people who fought for the Independence of your country only got rid of the british but kept slavery.
D) They (people in C) fought for the souvergnity of the USA.
E) They (people in C) didn't give you the freedoms that you take for granted today.
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I'll respond to that with this...

Nobody ever gave anybody freedom. It was bought, and paid for, by the blood, sweat, and tears of soldiers, and patriots. Anybody who says differently is either 1. Outright lying to further their own agenda, or 2. A true believer in those people in the former catagory. Civilized, or not, those who were proponents of slavery and, vis-a-vis, racism, are those who would like to divide the world into 2 catagories...Us and Them. Anybody who truly believes in freedom will fight, and possibly die, to end those beliefs. Most of the founding fathers were, indeed, slave owners. Even Thomas Jefferson, who had the unmitigated gall to use anti-slavery words in the Declaration of Independence. Of course, back then, slaves weren't considered entirely human, even though those same slave owners took to rape to bolster their slave populations.

Read this, and then decide...Pay close attention to the 'interactive' FIGHT FOR FREEDOM.
 
Luis G said:
I'll word it carefully, but deep inside I feel you will find yet another meaning in my words.

A) People fought and died to accomplish the Independence from Britain.
B) A souveirgn nation not necessarilly provides freedom to its citizens.
C) The people who fought for the Independence of your country only got rid of the british but kept slavery.
D) They (people in C) fought for the souvergnity of the USA.
E) They (people in C) didn't give you the freedoms that you take for granted today.
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A)Correct
B)A sovereign nation is not forced to provide freedom to its citizens nor is it expected to provide freedom to those not considered citizens.
C)What's the problem? The French knew we were slaveowners. As did th eDutch & other assorted anti-British allies.The Indians knew it. The newly minted Americans knew it. It was commonplace.

If you find our founding so unsavory because we allowed slavery then what are you doing to stop it today? It's very nearby you know. We stopped it in the USA.

Records indicate that about 6000 African slaves reached Mexico.
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Source

Is slavery illegal today in Mexico, by federal law?
 
Those were brought by the spaniards.
We abolished slavery in September 27th 1821.
 
Luis G said:
Those were brought by the spaniards.
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That changes anything? They were still slaves in Mexico.

We can't change what was. We shouldn't use 21st century morality on previous generations. Change what is if it offends & leave the past dead & buried, using it only as a reference point to avoid repeated mistakes.
 
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