Our Sacred Honor

Independence Day is my favorite holiday next to Christmas. I also believe it to be as sacred a holiday as the birth of our Savior. I believe this day in 1776, our Heavenly Father blessed a group of dissenting men to agree upon a sacred text that would secure our liberties and chart the ideals of a United American nation. This event undoubtedly set the stage for a young boy to search for continued truth, and to find it by our Master's hand. We now have the most precious gift of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I cannot be more thankful for the group of blessed men that fought and worked diligently for the freedom and securities my family and I enjoy. I hope my children learn the same respect for some of these men and women.

Thomas Jefferson

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Believe me, dear Sir: there is not in the British empire a man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain than I do. But, by the God that made me, I will cease to exist before I yield to a connection on such terms as the British Parliament propose; and in this, I think I speak the sentiments of America.

—Thomas Jefferson, November 29, 1775

Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry was one of the most influential advocates of the American Revolution. His speech made in the House of Burgesses on March 23, 1775, in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia proves such. The State's House was undecided on whether to mobilize for military action against the encroaching British military force, and Henry argued in favor of mobilization. He convinced the House with his declaration,

"It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace — but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

Thomas Paine

In the early months of war, Thomas Paine published, "The American Crisis" to inspire the colonist in their resistance to the British army. During a time in the war when victory was an unsteady prospect, the pamphlet was read aloud to the Continental army on December 23, 1776, two days before the Battle of Trenton, and was General Washington's attempt to bolster morale and resistance among patriots. It worked...

"These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated."

Samuel Adams

"I firmly believe that the benevolent Creator designed the republican Form of Government for Man."

Samuel Adams, April 14, 1785

Abraham Lincoln

"In Lincoln's hands the Declaration of Independence became first and foremost a living document" with "a set of goals to be realized over time." -Pauline Maier

"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. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

--Text from the Declaration of Independence, adopted in the Continental Congress of 1776

Happy Independence Day!!