Mike Parker: What does The Fourth of July mean?
John Adams had it wrong by two days. On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor of declaring independence from Great Britain. John Adams, a delegate to the Continental Congress from Massachusetts, wrote to his wife Abigail on July 3, 1776:
“I am apt to believe that it [July 2] will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.
“You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. – 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 ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means.”
Two days after the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, delegates from the 13 colonies gathered to adopt officially the Declaration of Independence, drafted chiefly by Thomas Jefferson. That day was July 4. From 1776 through the present, we have celebrated the Fourth of July as this nation’s birthday. Celebrations range from casual family gatherings to parades, band concerts, and firework displays.
The Declaration has three essential parts: the Preamble, the List of Grievances, and the Declaration of Separation. The Preamble sets forth the basic principles that have become the American creed. Based on what Jefferson termed “self-evident” truths, five clauses in the Preamble state the ideals of this nation.
First, all men are created equal. Second, they [all men] are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. Third, among these rights are the rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Fourth, government exists to secure these rights and derives just power from the consent of the governed.
Fifth, when existing government becomes destructive of these ends, the people have a right to alter or abolish the existing government and institute new government based on principles and organized in a way most likely to secure these ends.
Often people point out that many of those who adopted a document that proclaimed “all men are created equal” were slaveholders – and that the document excludes women. Although that point is undoubtedly legitimate, we must never forget that these words became the bedrock principles that have compelled this nation toward true equality for all. We must also judge the writers by the era in which they lived.
For example, Frederick Douglass was asked to give the keynote address at an Independence Day celebration. He delivered his speech on July 5, 1852. The title of the address was “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” During the course of his speech, Douglass said:
“Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great men, too, great enough to give frame to a great age. It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men. The point from which I am compelled to view them is not, certainly, the most favorable; and yet I cannot contemplate their great deeds with less than admiration. They were statesmen, patriots and heroes, and for the good they did, and the principles they contended for, I will unite with you to honor their memory….”
However, toward the end of his speech, Douglass spoke these words of admonition:
“…Fellow-citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here to-day? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us? and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?”
Frederick Douglass cuts to the heart of the issue. As heirs of these lofty ideals, our work is to expand the definition of “all men are created equal” truly to include all men – and all women.
We cannot do more. We should not do less.
Mike Parker is a columnist for Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.
