The Declaration of Independence

DUKES FANS: “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….” These, of course, are words from the Declaration of Independence, the document first read to the public in Philadelphia 250 years ago today. We have seen these words plenty of times over the last week and have heard parts of them read in speeches, commercials, news clips and more over the last few weeks. They are marvelous words, and definitely worthy of being repeated and remembered. Of course, they are also words that were not in any way lived up to at the time they were written and publicly announced. On July 4, 1776 approximately 1/ 5 of the population of the 13 colonies-some 500,00 people--were legally held as slaves. They did not have control of their own lives, and they certainly did not have liberty. In fact, over half of the signers of the document were slave holders. There were also about 1.25 million women living in the colonies on that date, and the Declaration does not mention them at all. And the laws of the time limited their rights as well as their ability to pursue their own sense of happiness. Native Americans also were not specifically mentioned, and many of them had lost their lands and their lives during settlement of the colonies. The realities of much of life in the colonies in 1776 for many people was not pretty or easy. What these words are to me, though, are Ideals. Goals. Possibilities. They are how a government could possibly act and be when trying to live up to the meaning of those words. Much of the history of this country has been about actions, movements, people, and organizations trying to make those words a little truer and a little more real. It has not always been pretty, and it has not always been easy. But these things have been essential to our history as many of us have been trying to make these words come true. As we celebrate the writing of those words, then let us also celebrate the struggles, both past and present, to breathe life into those words. Abolitionist Wendell Phillips once said, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” I would add that it also takes eternal involvement, commitment, and action. Happy Fourth.