Citizens for Principled Government

Dear Citizens for Principled Government,

As the annual return of the celebration of our Independence approaches, I have been encouraged to post once again the message that I forwarded to you last year. It is titled, “INDEPENDENCE FOREVER”. I hope it adds to your 4th of July thoughts, feelings and celebration.

When the Declaration of Independence was signed and adopted in Philadelphia in 1776, victory over England seemed most improbable. However, as expressed so bravely and eloquently by Patrick Henry, the Colonists trusted in the blessings of Heaven and the principles of liberty, which justified and sustained their actions. To the assembled Virginia delegates, Patrick Henry firmly declared:

“They tell us, Sir, that we are weak – unable to cope with so formidable an adversary . . . Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, Sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us . . . there is no retreat, but in submission an slavery! Our chains are forged, their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable – and let it come!! I repeat it, Sir, let it come!!! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? 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!” (Campbell, 1969, p. 130).

Shortly after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, John Page wrote to Thomas Jefferson on July 20, 1776 and said, “We know the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong. Do you think an angel rides in the whirlwind and directs the storm?” Today, we are the posterity and blessed beneficiaries of such Divine Providence.

For me, the three most cherished holidays of every year are Christmas, Easter and the 4th of July. They are not simply times of joyous family get togethers (although they are certainly that). It is the substance and true meaning of those celebrations that cause us to set those days aside for serious reflection and application in all our daily lives. That is what moves and inspires me so deeply. Through such holidays, we commemorate what transpired in our most sacred history and heritage and seek to forever preserve the conscious memory, reflection and consecrated endeavor to always live worthy of those blessings in the lives of every American citizen. With our children, we sometimes fret that the story of Santa Claus might somehow be allowed to eclipse the true story of the nativity and the life, ministry and atoning sacrifice of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind. It is the message and meaning of Easter that causes us to then go back and also reverently commemorate the birth of that same individual from which all the world measures time forward and backwards.

Like President Ronald Reagan, I do not believe it was a coincidence that the Nature’s God, the Creator and Supreme Judge of the world spoken of in our founding Declaration of Independence positioned the American continent safely between two oceans. Truly, our nation has always had a grand destiny. John Adams foresaw that the signing of the Declaration of Independence and all that it would lead to would be forever celebrated with “illuminations” and, at times, “copious tears”. I know those feelings and rejoice with you in the annual return of the great message of “INDEPENDENCE FOREVER”. Happy 4th of July to all our friends and fellow Citizens for Principled Government.

On the morning of July 4, 1826, America ushered in the 50 year anniversary celebration of the Declaration of Independence. At his Monticello estate atop a small mountain of foothills in the Blue Ridge mountains in Virginia, Thomas Jefferson lay asleep. Earlier, he had risen briefly to inquire, “Is this the 4th?” He peacefully slipped away into eternity in the early afternoon on the 4th of July. At this same time, in Quincy Massachusetts, John Adams lay similarly at the edge of death. He had hoped to join in the Nation’s celebration but was confined to his home. When asked to propose a toast that could be shared with his fellow countrymen, he offered this, “Independence Forever”. When asked if he wanted to add something to his brief tribute, he replied, “Not a word”.

On the morning of the 4th, he was asked, “Do you know, sir, what day it is?” His reply was, “Oh yes. It is the glorious 4th of July. God Bless it. God Bless you all.” That afternoon, he awoke one more time and someone nearby heard the second President utter his last words, which were: “Thomas Jefferson survives”. He did not know that his fellow patriot and author of the Declaration of Independence had quietly passed away in Virginia earlier that day.

Throughout the momentous time leading up to the Declaration of Independence, Adams and Jefferson stood side by side. Adams was the more outspoken one. He was referred to as the “Atlas of Independence”. He was the voice of Independence and Jefferson was the pen. Jefferson was at his best when free to express himself in writing, which he preferred instead of public speeches.

When independence was adopted by the Delegates at the Second Continental Congress, a committee of four was formed to draft the formal Declaration. Adams and Benjamin Franklin deferred to Jefferson to create such a draft. Jefferson confined himself to an upper room in the Joseph Graff home some distance from what would become known as Independence Hall in Philadelphia. With no notes or books before him, he simply reduced to writing the feelings of what he hoped would be received as “an expression of the American mind”. The delegates made revisions and then placed their signature upon the finished document knowing that if the colonists were unsuccessful in the War for Independence, they would all be hung for treason. Nonetheless, they pledged their “lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor in support of the Declaration.”

John Adams wrote home to his wife, Abigail, on July 3, 1776 and expressed his strong belief that succeeding generations would celebrate Independence Day with great reverence and devotion. The exact text (including original spelling) of his famous letter is provided herein:

The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it 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. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not. (The Book of Abigail and John: Selected Letters of the Adams Family, 1762-1784, Harvard University Press, 1975, 142).

John Adams was the nations first Vice-President while Jefferson served as Secretary of State. Together they served in the first cabinet with President George Washington when every act in leading the new nation set the precedent for what would follow. Then, John Adams was elected the nation’s second President and Jefferson became the Vice-President. However, in the heavily contested election of 1800, Jefferson was elected President and Adams was limited to only a single term in office. By then, the two political parties (the Federalists and Anti-Federalists) had developed and the tensions were so serious between them that these two patriots became estranged. They became political enemies and had little or no contact with each other for many years. Fortunately, however, through the insistence of Abigail Adams and fellow signer of the Declaration of Independence, Dr. Benjamin Rush, Adams and Jefferson were reconciled and reunited in their later years. Over a span of some thirteen years, these two giants in our history began corresponding back and forth. That correspondence is a treasure today and I am profoundly grateful to possess and have read their wise and enlightening exchange of letters up until the time they died. As indicated, they left this earth not only the same day but on the very anniversary (the 50th) of Declaration of Independence, in which they played so pivotal a role.