0:00 welcome to this special edition of the way to wow shows I'm your host Kevin bemel and today is Independence Day otherwise known as the Fourth of July here in the United States of America and in in recognition of the holiday I uh decided to have this uh special episode to talk for a few minutes about the Declaration of Independence which is the document that essentially created the United States and to give us an opportunity to add some meaning to a day
0:37 that otherwise you know is it seems to be filled with uh barbecues and fireworks displays and and and those sort of things and of course those are those are all fine things especially spending them with family and friends I think it's incumbent upon us though to remember what this day means in not just the history of our country but for us in the present day so I know when I woke up this morning and I I slept in a little bit because I I stayed up late last night um I my my first thought was uh I
1:16 want to put up my flag outside um in in in honor of this American holiday so I I have a I I got a really nice flag from uh um shoot from from these folks and I can't remember their name um but it's it's all you know made in America it's beautiful the wood for this for the flag pole is beautiful and it has special attachments to the pole so it won't get all wrapped around and and all that kind of thing um and um I I I really it was it was a very special thing to to carry the flag outside and and and put it in
1:52 the uh the bracket that I have uh on on on my fence so uh so the the Declaration of Independence as as I mentioned is essentially the founding document for the United States of America now if if you've ever seen the show uh 1776 um a marvelous show by the way um it it essentially um uh recreates um the events surrounding the
2:27 writing and Publishing of the de ation of Independence um however it's it's not you know completely historically accurate so um the the what happened was um the John Adams primarily um along with his allies was pressing for the colonies to become an independent country and he was being styed by uh more some of the more conservative members of the Continental Congress and so what he decided to do he
3:02 and his allies decided to do was to get one of the delegates from Virginia Which at the time was really the most influential state in or I should say Colony um in in in North America um to get a declaration of independence or um to make a motion that a declaration of independence be written um from the House of Burgesses in Virginia irginia and so Richard Henry Lee WR writes off and he you know there there's a a very funny song in in in 1776 about it but he
3:39 is one of the first families of Virginia very influential and indeed he brings back this uh this sort of order if you will from the House of Burgesses um that there be a vote on Independence and in the meantime uh Thomas Jefferson who is if not the youngest one of the youngest members of the Congress is engaged to write a declaration of independence setting out to the world why um the colonies were taking this
4:15 unprecedented step and so and and Thomas Jefferson was widely uh thought to be the most eloquent writer in among the the Statesmen of of the colonies um although Benjamin Franklin was known for writing among other things Poor Richard's Almanac which was an extremely popular book at the time um most of it is as again I'm referring to 1776 was light exemp orania as they call it in the show he wrote he wrote you know humorous things and not nothing that was
4:52 meant to sort of you know stand the test of time and so the result of Thomas Jefferson's right was this document that then was debated in the Continental Congress and some changes were made and and certain uh parts were deleted until eventually they got to a document that um could be voted on and and and that was really that was the the seminal moment so um some of the colonies were still holding out um some of the colonies um were or some of the
5:27 delegates were waiting for instruction from their um their uh colonial governments and um and and in the end um 12 of the 13 colonies voted in favor of independence with one essentially abstaining and and and then you know all eyes kind of turned to those delegates who decided to vote um in favor of Independence and um one uh delegate in particular um Dickinson who was from um
6:04 I believe South Carolina um believed at the time that declaring independence was absolutely the wrong thing to do uh having been outvoted though by the other delegates from his State as well as the Congress in general um Dickinson made a very short but but touching speech essentially saying although I I disagree with what's happened here today nonetheless I'm going to leave Congress
6:40 now and go join the armed forces of my Colony um to fight on behalf of this cause and I and I the reason I I highlight this is I I think we could we could a agree that um there's probably hasn't been a bigger uh difference of opinion among American politicians than whether to create our country or not and here's a man who essentially lost that uh debate um and he was nonetheless willing to uh you
7:17 know having been outvoted nonetheless was um dedicated the rest of his life to the support of the cause and and so I think that there there's an archetype there for us us um in in how we might consider um behaving as As Americans so um what I what I have here before I I um go to the next part of the show are several books that I think really every American should should have um one is this is just a small book and you can
7:53 see that it has um in it the Constitution of the United States the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation so the Artic Articles of Confederation predated the Declaration of Independence and in fact one of the reasons why the the Continental Congress convened was because they found that the Articles of Confederation were not sufficient uh for creating the kind of unity that the colonies needed in dealing with Great Britain and so then that led to the Declaration of Independence and then of course after
8:29 after um America won the um Revolutionary War the war for independence um the there was a uh constitutional Congress at which the Constitution was was written debated and and um sent to the various Colonial uh state governments I should say at that point for for a vote of ratification so these three documents really uh Define the fundament Al um ideas behind the founding of this country and I think it's incumbent on
9:05 all of us to read and and know about these documents so I I'll I'll put a uh um a link to this book uh in the show notes after the show posts on our YouTube channel um and and like all the links I do they're affiliate links to Amazon and and so you know I get I think you know two cents if you if you buy the book so you know full disclosure uh the other very important uh set of documents in the founding of the United States is
9:40 something called The Federalist Papers so they were written by Alexander Hamilton uh James Madison and John J and The Federalist Papers dis uh described the ideas and intent behind the Constitution so when when we talk about the Constitutional debates and what the founders really intended by any particular part of the Constitution many of those answers are
10:16 in this book and it's an indispensable guide for really understanding what the Constitution is is all about now of course in this country there is a there's essentially a partisan divide over the Constitution people on the right tend to have a strict constructionist or at least a a um originalist uh interpretation of the Constitution meaning the the meaning meaning that they don't believe that the the Constitution changes over time that
10:52 its original intent is what's important and so when a particular instit uh issue comes up it needs to be examined in light of what the framers of the framers of the Constitution intended and then there's the um the left side of the political Spectrum which has more of what's called a living Constitution a living um yeah constitutional interpretation meaning that over time the Constitution has how the Constitution is interpreted has to change and grow to be reflective of the
11:28 time in which a particular issue is being examined and and while one could argue I'm being a little I'm being somewhat oversimplified in these explanations just you know in a short way that's really what what the um philosophical divide is in this country between left and right so again I'll put a a link to this book in the show notes as well and then the final book that I recommend is something called the American reader it edited by Diane ravage and this book contains all really
12:08 all of the uh documents uh poems and other writings that really help us understand what the United States is all about so just to give you an an idea it starts with the Mayflower Compact in 1620 or thereabout okay and then it it has other things like George Washington's farewell address um and then it goes through to oh it has the poem a visit from St Nicholas right um he say what does that
12:44 have to do with the United States well you know let's let's be honest the United States was founded by Christians and so there is a a a Christian history to this country and then it goes on through many famous writers that you've probably heard about uh Henry Wadsworth Longfellow including his poem Paul R's ride Which documents the famous uh ride of Paul Riv although again it's not uh historically accurate um Emily Dickinson is in here uh William Lloyd Garrison uh the famous uh abolition you slavery
13:19 abolitionist uh Frederick Douglas also one of you know the famous black abolitionist and extremely um important to that movement um Abraham Lincoln's the house divided speech so on and on and on and it kind of goes era by Era in the country and it's very inspiring it's a very inspiring book to read and I know that sometimes I get somewhat pessimistic about the fate of our country with all of the divisions and then the violence and and the overheated rhetoric and I'll
13:56 pick up um Miss ravishes ravit book and thumb through it and pick some things to read and it it renews my faith in in this country as this year we celebrate uh what our our 248th anniversary so we're heading in in a couple of years we'll be celebrating the 250th anniversary of our country uh we're we are on the world stage a fairly Young country countries like England France are much older than we are other countries are younger Germany is younger
14:32 Italy is younger and of course there's countries even younger than that uh but Spain is a much older country than we are Portugal is much older country than we are China is a much older country than we are so on the world stage I think we're more we're kind of on the younger side perhaps of middle age and and you know how how long will as as we call it the Great American Experience last very very hard to say um but I think it will last as long as we Americans have faith in our in our country and and do our best to work
15:09 together as Citizens in in a a unified cause so my practice on the on Independence Day is to read the Declaration of Independence which is of which as I was saying at the beginning is the document that created this country and and uh it was published on this date 248 years ago and it really puts forth the fundamental ideals behind why the United States of America was created and so for the rest of this show
15:46 that's what I'm going to do I'm going to read the Declaration of Independence and I hope that you will stay with me it it won't take a very long time and I intend to make it as as dramatic and impact ful as I can uh but again I think it's incumbent on us once a year to review this document and really understand the foundations of this foundational uh document of of our country and so here we go the unanimous Declaration of the 13 United States of America when in the
16:24 course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to olve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the Earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of Nature's God entitle them a decent respect to the opinions of mankind require that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created
17:00 equal that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to Institute
17:38 new government laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness Prudence indeed will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes and accordingly all experience has hath shown that mankind are mo more disposed to suffer while Evils are
18:15 sufferable than to write themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed but when a long train of abuses and usurpations pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism it is their right it is their duty to throw off government and to provide new guards for their future security such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies and such is
18:52 now the necessity which constrains them to alter the former systems of government the history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states to prove this let facts be submitted to a candid world he has refused his Ascent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the
19:28 public good he has forbidden his Governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance unless suspended in their operation till his Ascent should be obtain should be obtained and when so suspended he has utterly neglected to attend to them he has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large District of people unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legis a right inestimable to them and formid
20:03 formidable only and formidable to Tyrant only he has called together legislative bodies at places unusual uncomfortable and distant from the depository of their public records for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures he has dissolved representative houses repeatedly for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people he has refused for a long time after such dissolutions to
20:40 cause others to be elected whereby the legislative powers incapable of annihilation have returned to the people at large for their exercise the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without and convulsions within he has endeavored to prevent the population of these states for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither and raising the
21:16 conditions of new appropriations of lands he has obstructed the administration of justice by refusing his asent to laws for establishing Judiciary power he has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices and the amount and payment of their salaries he has erected a multitude of new offices and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance he has kept Among Us
21:52 in times of Peace standing armies without the consent of our legislator he has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the Civil power he has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution and unacknowledged by our laws giving his Ascent to their acts of pretended legislation for qu quartering large bodies of armed troops Among Us for
22:27 protecting them by a mock trial from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states for cutting off our trade with all parts of the world for imposing taxes on us without our consent for depriving us in many cases of the benefit of trial by jury for transporting us Beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offenses for abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring
23:02 Province establishing therein an arbitrary government and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for INT introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies for taking away our Charters abolishing our most valuable laws and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments for suspending our own legislatures and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for for us in all cases
23:39 whatsoever he has abdicated government here by declaring us out of his protection and Waging War against us he has plundered our seas ravaged our Co coasts burnt our towns and destroy the lives of our people he is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death desolation and tyranny already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perid perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most
24:16 barbarous ages and totally unworthy the head of a Civilized Nation he has constrained our fellow citizens taking captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country to become the ex executioners of their friends and Brethren or to fall them or to fall themselves by their hands he has excited domestic insurrections Among Us and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our FR Frontiers the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of war is
24:53 undistinguished destruction of all ages Sexes and conditions in every stage of these oppressions we have petition we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injuries injury a prince whose character is thus marked by Every Act which may Define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people people nor have we been
25:30 wanting in attentions to our British brethren we have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us we have reminded them of the circumstances of our immigration and settlement here we have appealed to their native Justice and magnam and we have conjured them by the ties of our common Kindred to disavow these usurpations which would inevitably
26:06 interrupt our connections and correspondence they too have been death the they too have been de deaf to the voice of justice and of cons consequent consanguine consanguinity we must therefore acques in the necessity which denounces our separation and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind enemies in
26:41 war in peace friends we therefore the representatives of the United States of America in general Congress assembled appealing to the the Supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions do in the name and by authority of the good people of these colonies solemnly publish and declare that these United Colonies are
27:16 and of right ought to be free and independent states that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved and that as free and independent states they have full power to Levy War conclude peace contract
27:52 alliances establish Commerce and to do all other acts and things things which independent states May of right do and for the support of this declaration and with a firm Reliance on the protection of Divine Providence we mutually pledge to each other Our lives our fortunes and our sacred honor
28:32 so we can see that our Founders took the idea behind creating the United States of America very seriously they gave tremendous thought to it they argued they fought and in the end they came to an agreement they didn't create a perfect country it was flawed from the beginning it continues to have flaws now and we their inheritors have the
29:07 responsibility to make our country ever better and so on this Independence Day the 4th of July 2024 I ask you to take just a moment to think about how you can make make our country a better place for everyone not just the people with whom you agree not just for your family and friends but for everyone and I wish you a very
29:43 meaningful and happy day so thank you so much for joining me on this special edition of the way to wow shows wishing you signing off as I always do Marie darling you are my inspiration and my bell and wishing all of you that you will have courage at all times thank you so much