YOUR TURN: Celebrating America's Independence each and every day

We were standing in front of a pub near a famous golf course in Saint Andrews, Scotland. The discomfort of a misty rain was compounded by a steady breeze from a large body of water appropriately named the North Sea. My wife, Carla, and I were prepared. We wore gloves, sweaters, and parkas with hoods. We were also armed with the knowledge that our bodies were trained by Darwinian evolution to shiver in cold weather producing energy and heat that warmed us. In other words, we were miserable.

It was Independence Day, the Fourth of July. We were naively surprised to learn this day is not a holiday in the British Isles. This was encouraging as it meant the pub would soon open, and our torment would be interrupted by the warmth of a small stove and the pleasure of hot tea as we quietly thanked God for the land of our birth.

July the Fourth is a great and uniquely American holiday. We celebrate with family trips and gatherings, hotdogs, and hamburgers. Fireworks remind us of the rockets’ red glare and a flag still streaming.

The war for independence had started more than a year before 56 accomplished and brave men signed the Declaration of Independence on behalf of the Second Continental Congress. In doing so they put their individual freedom, possessions, and lives at risk. As British citizens, theirs was an act of treason. Benjamin Franklin is reported to have said, “Gentlemen, we either hang together or we hang separately.” Many would have their property plundered by the ‘redcoats,’ or the loyalists. For some, their families were exiled; their lives turned upside down. But a nation was born, the greatest nation on earth then and now.

Five men were assigned the task of writing a declaration that expressed why the 13 colonies demanded freedom and how the English king and his parliament had treated them unlawfully. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were among the five with Jefferson doing the actual writing. Both men initially wanted to include statements that opposed slavery. Contrary to revisionist historians, many of the founders found slavery revolting. Jefferson, Adams and others initially declared all people, regardless of race, are created equal. But the body responsible for drafting and passing the Declaration of Independence was the Second Continental Congress, a political body. To ensure consensus, the question of slavery had to wait for another place and another time.

Flamboyant John Hancock, as president of the congressional body was first to sign the document. He said he wrote in letters large enough for King George III to read his name without spectacles. On the day of its passage, only Hancock and the secretary of the congress, Charles Thomas, signed their names. Most of the other signatures were added a few weeks later, on August 2nd. Others who approved it on July 4, 1776, added their names as much as a year later.

Though it was adopted and signed by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia in what is now called Independence Hall, the original document is permanently on display at The National Archives Museum in Washington, DC. Anyone who can, should travel to see it. If you make the trip in July, it is unlikely you will need gloves or parkas. You can stand in a beautiful rotunda and read the most powerful words ever written: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

To live free is to enjoy a life of opportunity. To live in a country where equality is assured and celebrated ensures freedom of choice to do what we believe is in our best interest and in the best interests of those we love. Equality does not guarantee equity. Innate ability, hard work, self-denial, ethical and moral behavior, and more drive achievement. Governments cannot and should not attempt to require equal outcomes. But it is only governments, secured and sanctioned by the people who are governed, that can protect life, affirm equality, and make possible the pursuit of happiness for all.

In the words of Lee Greenwood, “It’s good to be an American, where at least I know I’m free.” Happy Independence Day!

(To learn more about the signers of the Declaration of Independence, read “Signers of the Declaration” by Robert G. Ferris.)

Michael K. McMahan is a resident of Gastonia.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: YOUR TURN: Celebrating America's Independence each and every day