I hope you enjoyed your 4th Celebration!
I ran across this article this morning...
A great history lesson for us all to remember.
Enjoy.
By Chuck
Baldwin
July 4, 2012NewsWithViews.com
As we approach another
Independence Day, I think it would be good to remind ourselves of who those men
were that counted the cost and paid the price to bring this land of liberty into
existence. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Americans today seem to have very
little--if any--knowledge and appreciation for the sacrifices that our Founding
Fathers made in order to birth this great country. We can thank the vast
majority of our schools (including the institutions of higher learning), major
media, political institutions, and even churches for this egregious
embarrassment. Accordingly, I think it fitting that today's column will attempt
to renew in our hearts the respect and reverence that these great men whom we
call Founding Fathers so richly deserve.
George
Washington
Called "The
Father of His Country," George Washington was, perhaps, the most important man
of the founding era. Supernaturally spared during the Indian wars, Washington
became the military leader who held the Continental Army together when it was
virtually impossible for any man to do so. Without his leadership at Valley
Forge and elsewhere, there is absolutely no doubt that the Continental Army
would have fallen apart and the fight for independence would have been
lost.
Equally
significant is the leadership that George Washington demonstrated in the
Continental Congress. Without question, Washington was the glue that held the
political bodies of the colonies together. Then, add the fact that George
Washington was America's first President, whose leadership solidified the
colonies into a new United States, and his value to the cause of American
independence cannot be in any way overstated.
Think of it:
George Washington was the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. And he led
that inferior army to victory over the greatest military force in the world at
the time: Great Britain. Afterward, Washington rebuffed a strong effort to
inaugurate him as America's king, and led the fledgling nation to embrace
republican government instead. Washington presided over the Constitutional
Convention that drafted the US Constitution. He was America's first President.
Washington's Farewell Address formed the compass and rudder of America for at
least the next hundred years and, in my opinion, is the greatest political
address ever delivered on American soil. Without George Washington, there would
be no America.
Thomas
Jefferson
Thomas
Jefferson was the principal author of America's birth certificate: the
Declaration of Independence. In my mind, there is no greater document of liberty
ever written by man. When it came to the understanding of human rights,
individual liberty, State rights, and enlightenment philosophy, Jefferson had no
peer.
President John
F. Kennedy once held a dinner at the White House for a group of the brightest
minds in the nation at that time. He made this statement: "This is perhaps the
assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather at one time in the White House
with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." He was probably
right.
Jefferson
served in the Continental Congress; he was the first Secretary of State; he was
the third President of the United States; he commissioned the Lewis and Clark
expedition; he was the author of the Virginia Statute For Religious Freedom,
which is regarded as one of the greatest declarations of religious liberty ever
written; he spoke five languages and could read two others; he knew and
influenced virtually every man who would be regarded as a Founding Father today;
and he wrote nearly 16,000 personal letters. Had not the British burned much of
it in the War of 1812, his library would probably go down as the greatest
personal collection of literary works ever collected by one man. Without Thomas
Jefferson, there would be no America.
Patrick
Henry
Patrick Henry
was the colonies' most ardent advocate of liberty--bar none! In oratorical
genius, he has never had an equal. Henry was a self-educated lawyer, successful
farmer, devoted father of 17 children, and five-term governor of Virginia. Henry
was the first Founding Father to defy British taxes, and in so doing was the
first who was willing to risk death as a traitor.
Patrick
Henry's immortal speech at St. John's Church in Richmond to a gathering of the
Virginia legislators in 1775 is regarded yet today as the most influential
speech ever delivered on American soil. Probably more people are acquainted with
that "Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Death!" speech
than any other public
address ever delivered.
Henry's
contribution to the War for Independence cannot be underestimated. As Governor
of Virginia (the richest and most populated of the 13 colonies), he supplied the
largest share of arms and munitions to the outnumbered and poorly provisioned
Continental Army. It was also Patrick Henry and his fellow Anti-Federalists who
were primarily responsible for the first ten amendments to the Constitution (the
Bill of Rights) being drafted and ratified. Without Patrick Henry, there would
be no America.
Samuel
Adams
Samuel Adams
is rightly called "The Father of the American Revolution." He was a cousin to
President John Adams and a graduate of Harvard. He was perhaps the most
influential member of the Massachusetts State legislature. He succeeded John
Hancock as Governor of Massachusetts. He was a delegate to the Continental
Congress and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He, along with men
such as Dr. Joseph Warren, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Richard Henry Lee,
and Josiah Quincy, Jr., created the "Committees of Correspondence," which became
the principle conduit of articles and letters of pro-revolution, pro-liberty,
and pro-independence communication between the colonies. Adams was also very
influential in the now-famous Boston Tea Party.
Sam Adams was
so hated by the British government that they used military force to try and
apprehend him, which led to both the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770, and the
"Shot Fired Heard 'Round The World" at Lexington Green and Concord Bridge on
April 19, 1775. Without Samuel Adams, there would be no America.
James
Madison
James Madison
is properly called "The Father of The US Constitution." He was the fourth
President of the United States and was the principal author of the Bill of
Rights. Madison authored more than a third of the Federalist Papers. Thomas
Jefferson referred to the Federalist Papers as "The best commentary on the
principles of government, which ever was written." Madison served as US
Representative from Virginia and as Secretary of State under Jefferson. George
Washington considered Madison to be the preeminent authority on the US
Constitution in the entire country.
Madison was a
fervent proponent of the principle of divided power. He believed government
(especially the federal government) could not be trusted with too much power and
worked to ensure the separation of powers within the federal government. He also
was a major proponent of State rights and sovereignty. Madison broke with
Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton over Hamilton's promotion of the State
Bank, and together with Thomas Jefferson, formed what became known as the
Democrat-Republican Party. Madison also co-authored with Jefferson two of the
most prominent documents of liberty: the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions.
Without James Madison, there would be no America.
As we
celebrate Independence Day this year, I trust and pray that each of us will
reacquaint ourselves with the principles upon which the Declaration of
Independence was written, and upon which the United States of America was
founded. And while we are doing that, let's be sure we are passing these
principles on to our children and grandchildren, because without their
dedication and commitment to liberty, there will be no America!
God Bless You,
God Bless the United States of America
Lorena
