From Woodstock’s Richard Rostrom:of The Response:
Independence Day more than white guys signing piece of paper
Chance for author to take up to four for free showing of Young Washington
On July 4, 1776, a bunch of old white guys met to sign a piece of paper. And because of that, we celebrate the 4th of July?
First of all – no, we don’t celebrate the 4th of July.
We celebrate what that piece of paper signified, though far too many of us take it completely for granted today.
We celebrate “Independence Day.”
And those “old white guys” weren’t all that old at the time and it wasn’t just some piece of paper that they signed.
For us today, the significance of that piece of paper is that we live in a country where we’ve enshrined the concept of freedom.
The idea of people wasn’t that novel; writers from John Locke to Cicero had shared the idea for centuries before the Declaration of Independence.
But, here in America, the idea of a government created to embrace that concept came together for the first time in human history.
What, however, was the significance for those ‘old white guys’ who signed the Declaration of Independence?
After signing the document there was a moment of solemn silence as the gravity of their decision sank in. Everyone of them understood they had literally signed their own death warrants.
The British longed to capture any and all of them so that they could hang them.
The silence was broken with an irreverent comment by signer Benjamin Harrison to Elbridge Gerry, another signer and the man Gerrymandering is named for.
Harrison said to Gerry:
“I shall have a great advantage over you Mr. Gerry when we are all hung for what we are now doing. From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead.”
It is valuable to reflect on the danger these men accepted in pursuit of liberty, especially in a day and time when the Founders are flippantly condemned as self-interested racists who created an evil empire.
Fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence.
Five were captured by the British and tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked.
Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army.
The sons of two more were captured.
Nine died of wounds or the hardships of the American Revolution.
Many, such as George Washington, lost more than 50% of their net worth.
Yes, some had slaves.
But slavery, at the time, came with a sense of normalcy.
That normalcy did not keep the Founders from contemplating the contradiction of fighting for liberty while holding others in bondage (I’ve illuminated as much and more in my book, A Deplorable Neanderthal Contemplates White Guilt – available on Amazon and in my Website’s Other Works & Writers page: AmericanAdventureBooks.com).
The timeliness of the movie, Young Washington, also goes a long way to bring missing perspective to the story of our first president, the man who is acknowledged as essential to victory in the War for Independence.
For many, Washington is seen as a marble figure on a pedestal.
For others, with the Left’s push for socialism, he’s seen as villain who owned slaves.
I suggest that you ask yourself, “If you were born into his situation in life, in the social and political environment of his time, would you not have done the same?”
The movie is, in my opinion and the opinion of those who went to see it Thursday, very wall made and I give it 5 Stars.
I hope young people, who are subjected to the anti-American indoctrination that is tearing at our nation, see the film.
The movie humanizes Washington in a way that is overdue.
Actually, I enjoyed the movie so much, and feel so strongly that young Americans should see it, that I’m offering to pay and go along with one parent (required) and up to three children while the movie is playing at Woodstock’s
Classic Cinema.
All I ask is that, to be considered as my guests, that you check out my Website and answer one question from it: What grade was I in when I talk about the teacher leading my class down to the library?
Those who would like a chance to win the viewing of the film should send an email with the answer to that question to: americanadventurebooks@gmail.com.
