247 Candles Please
Pictured: Dr. Pfister and Terri Pfister visit Lady Liberty in May 2022.
This Fourth of July, America will celebrate her 247th birthday, as it marks the day we declared our independence from Great Britain following the Revolutionary War…
Fifty-six founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence at the Pennsylvania State House, later known as Independence Hall, but not exactly as most teachers taught us in school.
According to history.com, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia on July 1, 1776, and on the next day 12 of the 13 colonies voted for independence. (New York was unsure.)
The next two days were filled with heated debate and the rewriting of a statement drafted by Thomas Jefferson. On July 4th, the Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence, and thus it is celebrated as our Independence Day.
It took until July 9th to get the New York delegates’ support and two more weeks to get it transcribed onto parchment paper! Finally, on August 2nd, the majority of the Congress delegates signed this most important document of our country. And today it resides at the National Archives in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom, alongside the other two defining documents of our country — the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
I feel it is interesting that even 247 years ago there was not an immediate unanimous political agreement among the colonies… even for a subject as important as our independence… and it took much time and effort to debate the issue before resolving it.
Today, we may feel so much more advanced and educated than our forefathers. But I have to think, after watching both sides of the aisle debating even the smallest topics today, we haven’t advanced that much!
Another example of our current political environment striking a resemblance to the past was on July 9, 1776, when a copy of the Declaration of Independence reached New York City. Crowds rioted in the street and culminated in tearing down a statue of George III, later melting it down to form 42,000 musket balls for the American army.
The passion for freedom in humans runs deep, and our expression of this passion sometimes gets out of hand when emotion over-runs rational thought.
I have to think this passion has its roots entwined with the helices of our DNA! No matter our race, creed, or color, we all want a quiet backyard to raise our children as we see fit and the freedom to attend the church, synagogue, or mosque of our choosing. But this freedom that so many take for granted today has not been achieved without much sacrifice from our forefathers! Examples of this go all the way back to the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Michael W. Smith wrote a great article in 2015 on the price of freedom and the sacrifices made by the Declaration signers.
These men were not rabble-rousing ruffians, according to Michael, but quiet men of means who were well-educated. (They basically had it made.) Twenty-four of them were lawyers and jurists, nine were farmers of large plantations, and eleven were well-established merchants. But they signed the Declaration knowing full-well that, if captured by the British, they would be put to death for treason! And sure enough, five signers were captured by the British, tortured, and finally put to death. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost sons in the Revolutionary War. And two more had sons captured and later killed in this same war. Nine of the signers fought and died in the Revolutionary war themselves. Yes, these were men who had financial and personal security, but they valued Liberty more!
I wonder how many of us today, if faced with the loss of our freedom and liberty, would make the same ultimate sacrifice our forefathers did.
Today, times have changed, because as I use the term man or men, I’m using it collectively speaking, not of a single gender. Women have just as much to say and lose as men do today. Can you imagine the shock of a wife of a forefather having her house ransacked and burned and experiencing the loss of a son and/or husband… all because of a piece of paper that her husband signed without her knowledge? Thank goodness for our passion for freedom and our constant striving for equality and justice in our country today.
This Fourth of July weekend, please take a moment to reflect on the amazing quality of life you and your family enjoy by living in America today.
We have so much to be thankful for that sometimes I feel our politicians (on both sides of the aisle) need their ears boxed to get their attention and have them focus on that which is good in America and to stop pumping up the bad! So many other people in the world would give almost anything to be where we are and have what we have.
So this weekend, give thanks to our forefathers (and their families) for their sacrifices that have enabled you and I to enjoy all we have with friends and family today.
247 candles please! That’s 247 years of independence we should be grateful for.
Have a happy, healthy, gratitude-filled 4th of July,
Dr. Pfister