I know that Friday has become a day to get you updated on all things chicken and rabbit related. Sometimes the other animals actually make it in to a post too. However, this Friday is different. It marks the start of the 4th of July holiday here in the US. Of course, it’s my sincere wish that you do something happy with family and friends during the holiday. After all, that’s what freedom is all about—being able to express yourself in a manner that makes you and everyone around you happy. A lot of good people have lost their lives over the years to ensure that you remain free. (As part of my celebration, I plan to take Monday, the 6th of July, off, so there won’t be a blog post on that day.)
It’s also important to remember what this holiday is all about. The Declaration of Independence in 1776 wasn’t the start of anything as many people think. It also wasn’t the end of anything. If you read history, you find that it really was more the middle of something. The founding fathers had been meeting long before the declaration was made and we wouldn’t actually gain our freedom until the 21st of June, 1788. That’s when New Hampshire ratified the constitution, making us a country. The British pulled out on the 25th of November, 1783, but really, we still weren’t a nation just because the British had decided to leave.
Some people put the start of the revolution all the way in 1754 during the French and Indian war, but the big doings that led people to get fed up started with the Sugar Act signed on the 5th of April, 1764. So, when you think about the July 4th, you really must remember it was a milestone somewhere in the middle of something much larger—something that lasted at least 24 years and possibly longer than that.
Our freedom wasn’t easily won and it cost far more than most people realize in terms of resources and lives lost. Freedom also isn’t something that you just keep because someone gave it to you. We continue, as a nation, to earn the freedom that our forefathers worked so hard to obtain. That freedom could easily be lost without the required diligence. As you celebrate today, think about your responsibility toward your country. Rather than complain about the condition of things, work toward keeping, maintaining, and regaining the freedoms our forefathers felt we should have.
