The Declaration of Independence

We were at Milwaukee's lakefront last night for the city's annual fireworks as we are every year, and they were fantastic.  My 2 1/2 year old son, who for the first time was really able to enjoy the fireworks, kept repeating "Oh!," "Wow...," and a very awe-struck "Oh my gosh..."  My favorite comment of his though was "It sounds like a dinosaur!"  Though I hated the fireworks through my teen years (nothing personal: I hated everything), I have really come to love them in recent years (and if we ever move from Milwaukee, our lakefront gathering will be an annual tradition I will miss).  The all-American loving spirit of Frank Capra wells up within me and I always think how awesome it is that *this* is the way we celebrate our nation's birthday, with giant outdoor gatherings of all our towns and cities across the country to watch fireworks.

Josh Patashnik at The New Republic explains that he likes to reread the Declaration each year on the fourth of July to remind himself what it's all about.  Then he asked readers for their favorite grievances against King George (a key list within the Declaration, but you already knew that, right?), which I admit I cannot provide because I don't know enough about what the colonists were so aggrieved.

I'll be taking early American history during the Spring 2009 semester, so next summer I plan to have an answer to the question, but in the meantime, I did sit down and reread our nation's founding document, which I encourage you to do as well today before you head off for barbeques and pool parties and parades.  I liked the last line of the second-to-last paragraph:  

We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

Note he didn't say, we're declaring our independence from these jerks and enemies we shall be until the end of the time!  No, he was cool with just being friends if King George would be cool with that too.

You can read the Declaration, view high-res images of the original, and probably get more background info that you thought possible from the nice folks at the National Archives.