"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." and so began the great experiment that became the United States of America.
Seven years of war with Britain ensued after The Declaration of Independence was published. It was a hard fought independence, but victory would have been nearly impossible without the alliance built with France. The battles fought by the Founding Fathers to form a nation in this newly independent land were equally hard fought, often compromising to reach the goal of Uniting the States, resulting in an imperfect nation;
The Senate gave equal power to less populated states.
The Electoral College, while perhaps created to prevent incompetence and malfeasance in the Presidency, the institution failed to recognize how strongly party loyalty would trump responsible action by Electoral College members.
Equality only included men.
The Founders birthed a nation stained by the original sin of slavery.
Yet, even with these shortcomings, the Founders imbedded mechanisms to right these wrongs. Written within the Constitution was a hope, that Americans in future generations would be able to come together with solutions to the heated arguments they could not resolve at the time. In some ways, we have realized their hopes, in other ways, we are having the same fruitless, and harmful arguments.
On this day, when we celebrate our nation's birthday, let us celebrate our victories and triumphs but also discuss our failings, and how each of us as Americans, can participate in ensuring the Great American experiment is a successful one. We can never call it a success until ALL AMERICANS, have EQUAL claim to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
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