On this day in History: July 4th Edition
- 2009: The Statue of Liberty’s crown reopened to visitors after eight years of closure due to safety issues in the wake of the September 11th attacks in 2001.
- 1976: The U.S. celebrated its Bicentennial.
- 1966: President Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act.
- 1960: The 50-star U.S. flag made its debut in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1881: Tuskegee Institute opened in Alabama.
- 1863: The Confederate Town of Vicksburg, Missouri, surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant.
- 1802: The U.S. Military Academy officially opened at West Point, NY.
- 1776: The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, is approved and signed by John Hancock, the president of the Second Continental Congress of the United States of America.
The Statue of Liberty was given to us by a nation rife with mob rule and bloodthirsty citizens who wanted the head of every aristo on the guillotine, yet it stands for liberty and hope to millions of oppressed and persecuted peoples around the world.
The Freedom of Information Act has done much good but has also brought into question the right of normal citizens having information that could harm our defenses if left in the wrong hands.
Tuskegee Institute was known for its horrific abuse and exploitation of black men for the “good of scientific progress” and yet it also gave us the first institution for higher learning for the African American population in our nation.
Ulysses S. Grant had a presidency steeped in scandal and had a history of antisemitic behavior, though he repented of it later and worked hard to reunite a country torn by war.
The military has had a troubled history of how it treats prisoners of war, civilian abuse, and other questionable practices, yet it has also defended our freedoms and the freedoms of countries around the world when tyranny, oppression, and other evils threaten those freedoms.
America is by no means, a perfect nation with a perfect government. The Declaration of Independence stated emphatically that all men (as in mankind) were created equal, endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights. Then we fought a long, bloody civil war to fulfill that promise.
Not one empire has risen or fallen without the evidence of the brokenness of the human race. Corruption and lust for power, control, or money have been an ongoing disease that we succumb to more often than we admit.
Yet out of the ashes of evil’s work, we also see the brilliance of the image of God in our darkest moments. In the bloodiest wars, worst natural disasters, and most heinous crimes that mankind can dream up and accomplish, we have also seen the compassion, kindness, love, forgiveness, and beauty of the best of humankind.
America is not a one-sided coin. We have not always practiced integrity and honesty, nor have we always protected the oppressed. Yet, our very ideals--the foundation of values and principles this country’s founders built upon--have served to bring light into the darkness for our country and for nations around the world.
This is nothing to scoff at. While we can and should admit to our sins, we cannot downplay the good America has done and the defense of human rights we have consistently lived out.
On this day in July--in the hot, cramped room where men fought and battled to set the precedent for the freest and most prosperous nation on earth--the greatest document was written and rewritten until it conveyed the absolute truth that all men are created equal and that their lives, liberties, and pursuit of happiness are God-given, not government-regulated.
Just a few short years later, the Framers would write their fledgling nation’s Constitution to further enumerate and protect these God-given liberties.
In that second important document, there is a little-known article that gives the power back to the people when the government chooses to embrace the darkness and suffocate the light.
This Fourth of July, I strongly urge you to read these two documents, with an emphasis on Article V and its ability to once again bring out the best that America has to offer humanity.
