Independence Day: Then and Now

THEN

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
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, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness...

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! ~ Patrick Henry’s “Treason Speech” before the Virginia House of Burgesses, March 23, 1775

…that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States. ~ Richard Henry Lee, June 7, 1776, proposal to the Continental Congress

I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these states. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of light and glory; I can see that the end is more than worth all the means, and that posterity will triumph. ~ John Adams, July 3, 1776, in a letter to his wife, Abigail

There! His Majesty can now read my name without glasses. And he can double the reward on my head! John Hancock, upon signing the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately. ~ Benjamin Franklin, at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind! ~ George Washington

Permit me then to recommend from the sincerity of my heart, ready at all times to bleed in my country's cause, a Declaration of Independence, and call upon the world and the Great God who governs it to witness the necessity, propriety and rectitude thereof ~ Nathanael Greene, General, Continental Army

These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. ~ Thomas Paine, The Crisis, December 23, 1776

NOW