Independence Day

It's a cushy job these days being a U.S. Representative or U.S. Senator. It wasn't always that way, though. In the mid '70's, 1770's that is, the men who represented the colonists got little reimbursement, if any, for their contributions, and often left more "lucrative" positions in law firms, blacksmith shops, or carpentry businesses and traveled miles away from home to a Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Why would these men give up the income from their jobs and the time from their families? Because they believed in the idea of liberty and freedom from tyranny and oppression.

This Independence Day (please don't refer to this holiday as simply "the Fourth of July"), take a moment to consider the sacrifices our Founding Fathers made. Consider the risk they took signing their name to a document that could have been Exhibit A at their trial for treason after a failed uprising (should the Revolutionary War not turned out in our favor). These men and their wives and children risked all that they had, wealth, title and reputation, for a concept of a better life for their grandchildren and future generations.

On every question of construction carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates. --Thomas Jefferson

The volunteers in the fighting force risked their lives, as well. They grew weary of the oppressive British crown, subscribed to the notion of liberty, and fought for the cause. What should also be acknowledged is that these Patriots were in the minority. Nearly a third of the colonists were loyal to the King, a third were apathetic and would follow whomever proved victorious (a.k.a. Moderates), and about a third believed in the cause of liberty to the point of breaking all ties with England. These Revolutionaries faced pressure in their communities in addition to the threat from England.

I'm not suggesting that we take up arms to resist the oppression of the IRS, an overreaching Senate and a Supreme Court that sets bad precedent, but I am suggesting that we revisit the passion of the late 1700's Patriots and pledge to pursue it anew. The great author and historian, David McCullough, in 1776, wrote of the trials, triumphs and disappointments of the early Patriots. The starvation they experienced, the odds they faced and the setbacks they endured were worth the effort because they believed that achieving liberty was a noble end. Would we make the same decision today?

On this Independence Day, take time to appreciate what it took during America's early days for us to enjoy the liberty and freedom that we have. Thomas Jefferson wrote, "On every question of construction carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed." Jefferson would most certainly tell us today to recollect the spirit manifested in the Revolutionaries, in General Washington, and in the representatives that gave up comfort and wealth to set a new nation on a course to greatness. And he would urge us to conform to their vision of liberty that is so easily taken for granted.

May we truly appreciate our Founding Fathers, our nation's independence, and our freedom.

2007