The founders of the United States found themselves to be lesser than British citizens and sought to appeal to the British Crown. When the appeals failed and retributions began, the founders chose to use their resources to communicate among themselves secretly. Ultimately, using their educated understanding of past civilizations, they chose to believe in another form of government. But to do so, they proceeded to prepare a Declaration of Independence, listing their grievances and their desire for self-governance. 249 years ago on this day, they signed it with their names, coming out secrecy. Doing so, they recognized that they are pledging “to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor”.
Implicit in all this, and often mistakenly missing, is their sense of responsibility in seeking this freedom. It is sad that they recognized that they may lose their lives and their fortune. Most did.
It took our founders more than a decade to come up with the Constitution that we have today. Even then, responsibility was implicit and fundamental in all they did.
Today, I wish to honor them for that sense of responsibility.
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