Here & There Column 7-2-13

Happy Birthday America

  The 4th of July results in various activities for all of us.

  This  national holiday is marked by patriotic displays and families gather together for parades, picnics, carnivals, fairs, concerts, baseball games, a barbecue, political speeches,  ceremonies,  and in some years there is the long weekend to spend with friends or relatives.

  Of course there is the evening fireworks displays often accompanied by patriotic songs including the national anthem, God Bless America, America The Beautiful, My Country, Tis of Thee, This Land Is Your Land, Stars and Stripes Forever and regionally Yankee Doodle in northeastern states and Dixie in southern states. 

  Independence Day, commonly known as the 4th of July has a special meaning in that it is a holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

  During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain took place on July 2, 1776 and Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4.

  This date is the day we set apart from all others, to honor the anniversary of the birth of our nation.

  The most famous line from the Declaration of Independence is, "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."

  This one line in our Declaration of Independence paved the way for every single law on the books today and it holds the basis for our Separation of Powers and all three branches of government........it is also the foundation of the civil rights movement.

  Enjoy your July 4th......Happy Birthday America.