This year marks the 233rd anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States of America.

Back then, freedom rang because individuals were willing to risk, literally, everything to be free from the yoke of heavy-handed government. Their declaration of individual rights meant their lives, their property, and their sacred honor, would be at stake.

Still, during those fateful summer days in 1776 at Philadelphia, delegates to the Second Continental Congress bravely asserted their intentions by passing, on July 2, a “resolution of independence”.

Two days later, on July 4, delegates voted in session to approve the document we know as the formal Declaration of Independence. The document was intended to explain, in detail, to the world, the reasons for separating from the British crown.

Then, through early August, each individual in turn, dared to pick up pen, dip it in their personal well of courage, and imprint their signature on the Declaration of Independence document.

In the entire length of the human experience, America’s more than two century existence is, still, but a short time. Yet, America’s birth stands as the singular moment of change in man’s relation to man and the primacy of self-government.

John Adams understood the significance of this course of events when, on July 3, he wrote to his beloved wife, Abigail:

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. … It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. … [S]solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more. Continued...