In Our View: Celebrate independence, strive to improve it

It is a birthday worth celebrating. The Fourth of July is a uniquely American experience in a unique country, honoring a compact formed nearly 250 years ago under what were revolutionary ideas about the role of the government and the rights of the governed.

“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 …” reads a portion of the Declaration of Independence, initially penned by Thomas Jefferson.

A resolution calling for independence was passed by the Second Continental Congress on July 2, 1776. Two days later, on July 4, Congress ratified the text of the declaration. The rest, as they say, is history; but it is a history that bears repeating and warrants thorough study, considering that it retains startling relevance today.

After all, preparing to sign the declaration, John Hancock reputedly said, “We must be unanimous; there must be no pulling different ways; we must all hang together.” To which Benjamin Franklin allegedly replied, “Yes, we must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

According to historians, these likely are spurious quotes. But they capture the mood of the nation’s early days.

The Declaration of Independence set the stage for colonists to rebuff control by the king of England. A lengthy revolution would eventually result in that independence, with the nascent United States eventually forming a governmental system spelled out by the U.S. Constitution.

It also sparked a move toward democracy for much of the world. As Jefferson wrote to John Adams in 1821, “In short, the flames kindled on the 4th of July 1776 have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism. On the contrary they will consume these engines, and all who work them.”

Unlike many quotes attributed to Jefferson, Monticello.org — the official keeper of Jeffersonian history — confirms its accuracy.

Celebrating this remarkable history and its impact on humanity is not to ignore this nation’s shortcomings. The key passage of the Declaration of Independence refers to “men,” reflecting an era in which women had few unalienable rights. The original U.S. Constitution counted slaves as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of determining congressional representation.

For these documents to remain germane in modern America, it is essential for such history to be taught and understood. Acknowledging the truth is not a criticism; it is an attempt to create a better future for all Americans and to recognize that a thriving nation must continually strive to achieve it most high-minded ideals.

Indeed, the United States is struggling with such acknowledgment at this point in its history. But that does not diminish the importance of the events that took place on the North American continent some 2½ centuries ago.

The Declaration of Independence paved the way for a new type of government and a nation that has become the world’s preeminent economic and military power. That is worthy of celebration.

As Jefferson wrote in 1826, “Let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights and an undiminished devotion to them.”