The following was written by COS Regional Captain James Peters. This was originally published in The Daily News-Record.
Each year in July we celebrate Independence Day. July 4th is for most citizens a day for families to get together for cookouts and the day usually ends with fantastic displays of fireworks.
On July 2, 1776, John Adams wrote these words to his wife Abigail:
The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epoch, 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 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.
The actual date of ratification came two days later, but Adams’ prediction of celebrations did come true.
Many citizens today either do not know or have forgotten that a “Petition to the King” was sent to England two years earlier on October 25, 1774, outlining the same grievances as those penned in the Declaration of Independence.
The Petition to the King reflected the Colonies' desire to maintain relations with Britain, given that certain demands were met.
It showed that the Colonies viewed themselves as loyal to the British monarchy.
The Continental Congress had hoped to resolve the conflicts with the king and Parliament without a war.
The King’s rejection of the petition was one of the major causes of the Revolutionary War.
That 1774 petition began with these words :
To the King's Most Excellent Majesty: Most Gracious Sovereign:
We, your Majesty's faithful subjects of the Colonies ... on behalf of ourselves and the inhabitants of those Colonies … by this, our humble Petition, beg leave to lay our Grievances before the Throne.
That "Petition" ended:
We, therefore, most earnestly beseech your Majesty, that your Royal authority and interposition may be used for our relief, and that a gracious Answer may be given to this Petition. That your Majesty may enjoy… a long and glorious Reign, over loyal and happy subjects, and that your descendants may inherit your prosperity and Dominions till time shall be no more, is, and always will be our sincere and fervent prayer.
Imagine addressing the President and Congress with words like these.
Today, we also see our grievances falling on deaf ears. But we do not need to declare war!
We have in Article V of our U.S. Constitution a way to peacefully see some much-needed changes made.
Through our state legislatures, we have both the right and the responsibility to check the runaway power of those who govern us from the halls of our nation’s capital.
When 34 of our states agree to limit the terms of office for federal officials, impose fiscal restraints, and limit the power and jurisdiction of our federal government, then we can hold a Convention of States to propose amendments to our constitution.
Any amendments that are proposed by the states must then be ratified by at least 38 states to become part of our constitution.
Unlike the "Petition to the King" our Declaration of Independence began:
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.
The 56 men who signed that document were willing to sacrifice their lives, their liberties, and their happiness to give us the freedoms we enjoy today.
They ended their pledge with these words:
...with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor.” Many of those men lost their lives, and many willingly gave up their fortunes to finance our War for Independence, but not one of them surrendered their "Sacred Honor.
They remained faithful to the promises they had declared to each other.
Nineteen of the 34 states needed have already passed legislation to hold a convention, but Virginia is not yet one of them.
Please go to the Convention of States website — conventionofstates.com – and sign the petition.
Add your name to the more than 72,000 citizens of Virginia who understand that we can save our nation from those in D.C. who would destroy it.
Don’t let another day go by before pledging your "Sacred Honor" to your fellow citizens of Virginia and of our great nation!
