Founding Fathers changed history on 4th of July

Elegantly simple Declaration of Independence established the guiding principles for what has become the greatest nation on Earth. To our national shame, a recent study reveals that most American students do not know the purpose of the Declaration of Independence. Like many holidays, its meaning is lost in the very celebration. 

The years of debates and collaborations among our Founding Fathers, which culminated in a sweltering Philadelphia hall on July 4, 1776, changed history. Of diverse personal backgrounds, from independent colonies with different regional interests, and with no historical model to follow, these men declared something new in the course of man — the belief that all men are created equal and that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are unalienable rights. Already at war with Britain as colonies but not yet declaring independence, the signers' 56 signatures were death warrants unless victory was achieved. None faltered.

Great Britain considered the 13 colonies and the people in them to be subjects. But while King George collected taxes and imposed his sovereignty upon them with a strong hand, the colonists had no representation in Parliament. Taxation without representation and other harsh regulations rankled those in the new world - the Sugar Act, the Currency Act, the Stamp Act and the Quartering Act in turn generated deep resentment. A Continental Congress was formed to create a unifying voice. A decade of discontent grew more intense as evidenced by the famous Boston Tea Party in 1773. Resistance led to military occupation by British troops, including the removal of the colonial government in Massachusetts and in its place governance by a British general. In the environment leading to the Declaration of Independence, political rebellion erupted into open warfare. In April 1775, the Battles of Lexington and Concord marked the first formal military conflict, as immortalized by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,

Here once the embattled farmers stood,

And fired the shot heard round the world."

To some the die was cast. To others, there was still hope of repairing the tear with England. The Continental Congress began meeting to decide the question of compromise or separation. The king made no offer of conciliation, and by June 1776 momentum had swung toward independence. A Committee of Five consisting of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman was appointed to draft a formal resolution. The committee asked Jefferson to put its collective thoughts on paper, which he presented to Congress on June 28. Until July 2 there was not unanimous agreement that independence should be declared, and even then New York abstained (joining the others a week later). But on that day, 12 colonies voted affirmatively to cast off the yoke of British rule and form a new nation. Over the next two days edits were made to Jefferson's draft, mostly the deletion of controversial provisions on which there was no consensus. On July 4 the delegates reached agreement on the final words of the document that declared independence and created the United States of America based upon those wonderfully expressed ideals.

The Declaration of Independence is elegantly simple. The guiding principles of the greatest nation on Earth are engrossed on a single piece of parchment only 24 and one-fourth inches by 29 and three-fourths inches. The original is still on display for all the world to see. It is what we stand for. At a time when men were governed by kings without the consent of the majority of the governed, our forefathers chose to recognize that men are born with certain unalienable rights that no government may deny - and 235 years later we reap the fruits of liberty. We are a free people because they backed their genius with their blood.