By: Melissa K. Ha’o
Kauai Staff Writer
(Kauai)– More than two hundred years ago 56 men got together and decided to commit high treason, risking execution, to declare in one loud voice, “all men are created equal… with certain unalienable Rights, that among them are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
People just don’t talk like this anymore. It’s so poetic and beautiful. The colonies wanted to govern themselves. They wanted to be free from Great Brittan and the tyrannical rule of King George. At the time this was unheard of, colonies just didn’t separate from the Mother country and no one defied the King. But, our fore fathers took a stand, right or wrong, they would be free or die trying.
Today is the forth of July, the 236th anniversary of the signing of this iconic document. I knew what would have happened had we lost, a very public execution involving rope or perhaps four horses running in four different directions…. I knew that some went on to be great leaders and innovative thinkers, but what of the rest?
According to one historian, five signers were captured by the British, declared traitors, and tortured before they were executed. Twelve had their homes and all their possessions destroyed, many lost sons in battle or had them captured by the enemy never to be seen again, and nine of them fought and died during the war. After the war a few declared bankruptcy, lost everything, or had all of their possessions taken or destroyed by the enemy or opportunists, and died would later die penniless. One lost his home and everything he owned when the British destroyed it, then imprisoned his wife who died a few months later. Another returned from war to find his wife dead, home and property destroyed, and all thirteen of this children missing, he died a few weeks later never knowing what happened to his family.
These were normal men, simple and yet educated. They were lawyers, merchants, farmers, traders, and fathers, average to slightly above average men who got together and fought their own government, for something they all believed in. Everyday heroes who took it upon themselves to court death in order to give their neighbors, their friends and families, and their future generations the greatest of all gifts, freedom.
Most Americans today have no clue why we light off fireworks on the fourth of July. Well many give the credit to John Adams. Before the Declaration of Independence was signed he sent a letter to his wife Abigail stating that (the fourth) should be celebrated “with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more.” On the first anniversary of the signing, July 4, 1777, the Pennsylvania Evening Post stated, “…there was a grand exhibition of fireworks…” Boston also boasted a fairly impressive display. And thus a tradition was born.
While most of us just sit back and enjoy the awe-inspiring displays of gun powder, and pretty color changing chemicals, maybe now you will stop and remember, if only for a moment, the cost of freedom that was paid and that is still being paid. There are many people around the world who are still fighting for their own independence and freedom. It is a desire of all men to be free to live the life that makes them happy. Because of the way America was founded hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of men, women and children have flocked (and continue to flock) to our boarders in pursuit of the American dream, or just a better life for themselves and their children.
We as Americans, those of us who have grown up within these boarders take freedom, liberty, and the ability to pursue your own happiness for granted all the time. Most of us have not suffered the way other countries suffer and do not know what a blessing the freedoms we enjoy truly are. There was a statistic flying around about ten years ago, and while this may no longer be true, it has stuck with me and has made me “think” on more than one occasion. The statistic was this: if you own one EXTRA pair of shoes (now truly think about your closets!!), if you own one extra pair of shoes that puts you in the top 5 percent of human beings that walk this planet. Just one extra pair! So imagine where a car puts you, a college education, a computer, an iPod, an iPhone, so you get the idea.
Hopefully I have given you something to ponder today. So when you go out and celebrate, remember what we have paid for freedom. Think about the men and women who have paid the ultimate price for what you enjoy today.