239 years ago 56 men pledged their “pledge [their] lives, [their] fortune, and [their] sacred honor” in an act of rebellion against the government. The government had, in the minds of these 56 “traitors” had made “repeated injuries and usurpations” of the people’s rights and liberties. These 56 men stated for all “That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States”.
Had these founding fathers not been willing to (and in many cases had) given all to the establishment of our country, would we today still be part of the British empire? Would we still have our rights trampled upon? Today, July 4, 2015, is not about hot dogs and fireworks. Its about freedom. By the time these words were signed in 1776, the 13 colonies had already spent over a year in armed conflict with the British Empire. There were a lot of reasons leading up to the actual rebelling but how many know what actually caused the Battle of Lexington and Concord? This first armed battle between the colonists and the British empire happened on April 19, 1775. The British were trying to confiscate the weapons of the colonists in Massachusetts. The people refused, hide many of their weapons, and the “shot heard around the world” happened.
For the past three years, each July 2nd and 3rd I have taken defensive handgun training classes at Front Sight Firearms Training Institute. These classes in July are held at night, from about 6 pm – 12:00 am. At about 11:30 pm on July 3rd, everyone at Front Sight gets together for a lecture on Independence Day, where we talk about the founding of our country and our rights. We then go outside and at 12:01 AM on July 4th, we have the first in the nation firework show. I believe that this is great way to remember America’s founding fathers – learn about the establishment of these United States of America, the reasons why we became a nation, how we became a nation, and the struggles we as a nation still have. May God bless the USA.
