SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT..... ITS ALWAYS GOOD TO READ DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

The American Continental Congress met at Philadelphia on June 7, 1776 and heard Richard Henry Lee's resolution urging a declaration of independence from English rule. Five days later, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston were appointed to a committee to draft a declaration.
Committee members urged Jefferson to draft a document for the committee's review; and 16 days later, the committee's draft was read before Congress.

On July 1, 1776, Congress began debating and revising the document that it would adopt on July 4, 1776.
As the debate began, Adams said: "Before God, I believe the hour has come. My judgement approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it. And I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment. Independence now, and Independence for ever!"
Like the other Founders, Adams understood what he was doing would be considered treason by the British Empire. But he was willing to risk his life and all he owned for the cause of freedom, as were the others who participated in the discussion and drafting of the document and the war for independence.

It has been 244 years since the 56 brave men signed their names to the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming that the 13 original American Colonies were no longer willing to live under tyrannical British rule. By signing their names to the very spirit of patriotism, the men risked being hanged in the event of defeat.
But they were not alone. Thousands of the signers' fellow countrymen had already denounced loyalty to Britain and taken up arms against the British in the name of American Independence. Seven bloody years after the signing of the Declaration and eight bloody years after the initial shots at Lexington and Concord, a new, free, republican nation was born.

Those who risked their lives by signing their names to a document that declared in no uncertain terms that they meant to create a better place where freedom reigned supreme would undoubtedly have trouble recognizing their nation today. Given the state of political discourse and the tendency for bureaucracy to destroy freedom in order to increase centralized power, the federal government has effectively come to represent everything for which those men claimed disdain in the Declaration.

Only by reading the document can one understand just how the United States is coming full circle back to tyranny.
Take the time this Independence Day to read the Declaration of Independence in its entirety. For a thorough historical background and to better understand the Declaration's signers, read They Signed for Us which was written by Merle Sinclair and Annabel Douglas McArthur and first published in 1957.
Only by learning how tyranny was defeated the first time can Americans stop the tyranny that is overwhelming the Land of the Free.

Yours for the truth,

Bob Livingston
Editor, The Bob Livingston Letter™