As we celebrate July 4th – Independence Day – take a moment to enjoy a look back and forward. Here are thoughts to settle eyes on far horizons, behind and ahead, make you think, inspire you.
First, nothing was inevitable about our independence. Nothing about liberty ever is. Securing it and preserving it are, spoiler alert, always a fight. Concentrated power never gives up quietly.
The Revolutionaries were about as likely to succeed as any underdog in history. Patrick Henry’s famous speech, “Give me liberty or give me death!” followed by our Declaration of Independence, were like mouthing off to Goliath, insanity unless you will die for freedom.
Worse, the British were determined to keep us captive, these colonies and the “sugar islands” of the Caribbean. They had a giant fleet, a seasoned military, tons of money, strongest empire in the world. And we were the gemstone in the ring, highly productive, profitable; they had to hold us.
That did not stop the Americans. Intrepid lives defined by high risk, outsized courage, readiness to fight, self-reliance, and fierce personal, political, and religious beliefs, they stepped up.
They were not the “powdered wig crowd,” no legacy names. They were the “fell that tree and build a house crowd,” the “help your neighbor but let me be crowd.” And they liked guns.
The early Americans – only decades before – had tried to compromise with their British overlords, hold their rights, but reach understanding. It did not work. By 1765, the “Sons of Liberty” had formed. The British doubled down, did that over and over. The die was cast.
Centralized power hates critics, free speech, and people asserting freedom from government, so – in every era – it suppresses dissent. The British did that in spades, more taxes, more troops, more threats, more bureaucracy, more violence. Freedom lovers take poorly to that sort of oppression.
That summer, the Americans were at their limit. What had been brewing became inevitable in their Declaration, triggering seven years of war, hard victory, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
In the long history of uprisings justified by words, our Declaration of Independence is arguably the most powerful in human history, matched only by Magna Carta, the first assertion of rights against a different British King in 1215. This day we celebrate is an epic act of courage.
That’s the long backstory. Here is the short one. Our Independence Day owes an incalculable debt to five men, the “Committee of Five,” Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Ben Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston – charged with writing the Declaration.
In June 1776, they had to consolidate the Colonists’ grievances into one document, a de facto declaration of war, a statement that independence was a resolve. This document had to set forth the reasoning, determination, and faith that were behind their claim to self-rule, total liberty.
Jefferson penned the document, but not without enormous input from others. A quiet man, Jefferson was practiced in writing, and so was selected to put the words in final form. He did that with extraordinary heart and clarity, imagining the possible, articulating what another president, 200 years later – Ronald Reagan – would call our unending “rendezvous with destiny.”
More than 9,000 Americans died for the Continental Union flag in the Revolution, our fight for Independence. Their hardships are hard to imagine: no modern medicine, no antibiotics, no Advil, no air conditioning, operating rooms, conveniences, cars, or modern communication.
Still, they prevailed – by dint of their unswerving determination to win and keep their freedom – our freedom – with unblinking faith and an almost genetic disposition to stop oppression. They were the embodiment of “Fight, Fight, Fight!” or maybe we now reflect their incredible courage.
In all events, July 4, 1776, was a day of enormous inspiration – not just for us, but for all those who dream and fight for their liberties, free speech, freedom to worship, freedom from political punishments, imprisonment, and death. That one day’s work is epic.
So, where does that point us? Back to basics. This is our time to show “Freedom still matters,” a day to recall the opening words of 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 …”
“That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
So, today, we do not need another hot revolution, not a hot war, but we do need to remain mindful that our obligation is to rise and “alter” a state or federal government that misrepresents, betrays, and in any number of ways oppresses “We the People.” In 2024, we did that nationally. In 2026, places like Maine must seal the deal and throw out those who care nothing for liberty.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC. Robert Charles has also just released an uplifting new book, “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024).
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