With all the ghastly displays of hatred for America over the last few weeks—from our own countrymen no less!—I’d like to offer an oasis in which to relax and simply celebrate our great nation. There is no shame in being proud of this country, what it stands for and what it has accomplished for not only its own citizens, but for the world at large.
Some of the greatest political minds in history came together to work out the founding of our republic. George Washington. Thomas Jefferson. John Adams. Ben Franklin. James Madison. Alexander Hamilton. What immense fortune to have men of their caliber all living at the same time in the same place! These were serious and learned men, statesmen, the likes of whom we have only rarely seen since.
Those great political minds produced several documents that have endured for more than two centuries as the foundation of our form of government.
The Declaration of Independence
“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 U.S. Constitution
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
The Bill of Rights
“The Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.”
We declared ourselves independent—and then we fought and won The Revolutionary War to make it so. Led by Gen. George Washington, the rag-tag American army defeated the much larger, more experienced, better financed and most feared military force in the world at the time—the British army.
Ours is the third-largest country in the world with 3.5 million square miles of land. And what beautiful country it is! It is book-ended by the world’s largest oceans, the Atlantic and the Pacific. We’re home to two of the world’s greatest natural wonders, the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls. We enjoy the world’s largest freshwater lakes and one of the world’s largest terminal lakes, the Great Salt Lake. We have the Great Plains, the Mojave Desert and Death Valley, the Mississippi River, the Rocky Mountains in the west and the Appalachian Mountains in the east. We have climates that range from blistering summers in the south to sub-zero temperatures in the north. What a place to live!
We are the freest nation in the world. People from all over the world want to live here to enjoy the freedom and opportunities we offer.
We’ve led the way in remarkable achievements. We were the first (and only) nation to put a man on the moon and return him safely to earth. We developed the Internet. We dug the Panama Canal. We laid the first telegraph cable from North America to Europe. We were first in powered flight. We developed the mass production of automobiles. We developed the cell phone, the personal computer and the software to run it. We built the Empire State Building, the Hoover Dam and the Brooklyn Bridge. We developed the first vaccines for cholera, anthrax, rabies, typhoid fever, the plague, diphtheria, whooping cough, tuberculosis, tetanus, yellow fever, typhus, polio, mumps, measles, rubella, pneumonia, chicken pox and meningitis.
I could go on and on. The United States of America is the greatest country in the world. Enjoy it, be thankful for it, and celebrate it! Happy Independence Day and may God bless America!