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Show July 4, 1952 In July of 1776, John Adams of Massachusetts wrote to his wife Abigail: "On this day Congress adopted a resolution res-olution of Independence . . . and this day will be remembered remem-bered throughout all history." Adams knew, as all men know, that freedom independence inde-pendence is always taken, not given. To Adams, to Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, to those who sought it, success meant freedom and self-government. Failure meant the rope and gallows for those who raised revolt The resolution of Independence had its roots in the new environment of America. Men who came to these shores expected freedom. They had hope, whether they came as free men or as convicts. Setting forth to conquer a continent, thev created a consciousness of strength and a will to be free. July 4th is not remembered in history because of a resolution of Independence. It is remembered because that resolution as guaranteed by the pain and the mis-sery mis-sery of ordinary men. The odds were fearful and many times the leaders of this movement for Independence must have been horribly hor-ribly afraid. There was no unity among the Revolutionists. Revolution-ists. There was neither cooperation nor coordination. Not more than one-eighth of the able-bodied men in America served in the Continental Armies. The populace was di-. di-. vided. Thousands of colonists left the country others espoused es-poused British arms. While American soldiers hungered and died in the ice of Valley Forge, farmers who were their countrymen sold their products to the enemy in Philadelphia. ' . That these men won Independence from the most powerful nation in the world is in many ways a miracle. The greater part of that miracle was courage. The issues that were joined in 1776 liberty and independence in-dependence against oppression now seem to lock the earth in the imminence of conflict. Once again, this people, peo-ple, ate set against a tyranny from abroad. On July 4, 1952, we are proud and grateful for the precept of July 4,1776 the miracle of courage. |
