Happy Interdependence Day

Some people seems to think that there is a difference between 'independance', 'freedom', and 'liberty'. They will get emotional and defensive over one term but make a difference with apathy when another term is used.... not recognizing that it all amounts to the same.

If our country is to continue as a nation of free men, we need to return to following the law of the land......... and those who are called Christians, to return to the God of the Bible and repent for our foolish ways, negligence, and seduction or fascination with evil.

Sin is bondage: People are never free until they are free from sin: This requires salvation in the LORD. Then a person holds onto their liberty by moral and godly living and encouraging the same in their family, community, and country. We cannot change anyone and we may not be able to reach everyone, but, in celebrating the birth of our nation, we should recognize that the first European settlers were driven by their faith and hope in founding a new establishment, and their descendants along with additional immigrants were highly motivated by their individualism, industry, and faith. Immorality and liberty are incompatible! If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? Our people are sowing the wind and will reap the whirlwind. A moral wrong cannot be a civil right! (Thank you, Pastor Butch Paugh for this recent message.)

 

Addendum to previous:

Happy Birthday, The United States of America!

:flag wavey icon:

 

The first sentence of the Declaration asserts as a matter of Natural Law the ability of a people to assume political independence, and acknowledges that the grounds for such independence must be reasonable, and therefore explicable, and ought to be explained.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve 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 requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

The next section, the famous preamble, includes the ideas and ideals that were principles of the Declaration. It is also an assertion of what is known as the "right of revolution": that is, people have certain rights, and when a government violates these rights, the people have the right to "alter or abolish" that government.[71]

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, 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 new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect 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 hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right 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 such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

The next section is a list of charges against King George which aim to demonstrate that he has violated the colonists' rights and is therefore unfit to be their ruler:

Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their 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 Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent 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 districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants 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 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 mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured 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 conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
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 harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
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 Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For 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 benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for 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 us in all cases 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 Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated 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.

Many Americans still felt a kinship with the people of Great Britain, and had appealed in vain to the prominent among them, as well as to Parliament, to convince the King to relax his more objectionable policies toward the colonies. The next section represents disappointment that these attempts had been unsuccessful.

Nor have We been 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 emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

In the final section, the signers assert that there exist conditions under which people must change their government, that the British have produced such conditions, and by necessity the colonies must throw off political ties with the British Crown and become independent states. The conclusion incorporates language from Lee's resolution of independence that had been passed on July 2.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to 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, 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 Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. 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.

FROM HERE

:godisgood:

 

The glaring obscenity and mockery of what our tyrannical evil government has become is magnified in the in the presence of our founding documents. The FF would roll over in their graves if they could see the diabolical madness reeking from the WH, Capitol Hill, and the SCOTUS.

 

Happy Interdependence Day

Is it? Even when our flags say "Made in China" and our fireworks say "Made in USA?"

 

That is the best statement I've heard in a LONG time. May I use it as my signature?

 

Signers of the Declaration of Independence


Back to The Signer's Gallery

Name/ State Rep./ Date of Birth/ Birthplace/ Age in 1776/ Occupation/ Date of Death/ Age at Death

Adams, John/ MA/ 10/30/1735/ Quincy, MA/ 40/ Lawyer/ 7/4/1826/ 90

Adams, Samuel/ MA/ 9/27/1722/ Boston, MA/ 53/ Merchant/ 10/2/1803/ 81

Bartlett, Josiah/ NH/ 11/21/1729/ Amesbury,MA/ 46/ Physician/ 5/19/1795/ 65

Braxton, Carter/ VA/ 9/10/1736/ Newington, VA/ 39/ Plantation Owner/ 10/10/1797/ 61

Carroll, Charles of Carrollton/ MD/ 9/19/1737/ Annapolis, MD/ 38/ Merchant, Plantation Owner/ 11/14/1832/ 95

Chase, Samuel / MD/ 4/17/1741/ Somerset Co., MD/ 35/ Lawyer/ 6/19/1811/ 70

Clark, Abraham/ NJ/ 2/15/1726/ Elizabethtown, NJ/ 50/ Lawyer, Surveyer/ 9/15/1794/ 68

Clymer, George/ PA/ 3/16/1739/ Philadelphia, PA/ 37/ Merchant/ 1/24/1813/ 73

Ellery, William/ RI/ 12/22/1727/ Newport, RI/ 48/ Lawyer, Merchant/ 2/15/1820/ 92

Floyd, William/ NJ/ 12/17/1734/ Brookhaven, NY/ 41/ Land Speculator/ 8/4/1821/ 86

Franklin, Benjamin/ PA/ 1/17/1706/ Boston, MA/ 70/ Scientist, Printer/ 4/17/1790/ 84

Gerry, Elbridge/ MA/ 7/17/1744/ Marblehead, MA/ 32/ Merchant/ 11/23/1814/ 70

Gwinnett, Button / GA/ c. 1735/ Gloucester, England/ 41/ Merchant, Plantation Owner/ 5/15/1777/ 42

Hall, Lyman/ GA/ 4/12/1724/ Wallingford, CT/ 52/ Physician, Minister / 10/19/1790/ 66

Hancock, John / MA/ 1/12/1737/ Quincy, MA/ 40/ Merchant/ 10/8/1793/ 56

Harrison, Benjamin/ VA/ 4/7/1726/ Charles City Co., VA/ 50/ Plantation Owner, Farmer/ 4/24/1791/ 65

Hart, John/ NJ/ c. 1711/ Hunterdon Co., NJ/ 65/ Land owner/ 5/11/1779/ 68

Hewes, Joseph/ NC/ 1/23/1730/ Kingston, NJ/ 46/ Merchant/10/10/1779/ 49

Heyward Jr., Thomas/ SC/ 7/28/1746/ St. Helena Parish, SC/ 30/ Lawyer, Plantation Owner/ 3/6/1809/ 62

Hooper, William/ NC/ 6/17/1742/ Boston, MA/ 34/ Lawyer/10/14/1790/ 48

Hopkins, Stephen/ RI/ 3/7/1707/ Providence, RI/ 69/ Merchant/ 4/13/1785/ 78

Hopkinson, Francis/ NJ/ 10/2/1737/ Philadelphia, PA/ 38/ Lawyer, Musician/ 5/9/1791/ 53

Huntington, Samuel/ CT/ 7/3/1731/ Windham, CT/ 45/ Lawyer/ 1/5/1796/ 64

Jefferson, Thomas/ VA/ 4/13/1743/ Albemarle Co., VA/ 33/ Lawyer, Plantation Owner, Scientist / 7/4/1826/ 83

Lee, Francis Lightfoot/ VA/ 10/14/1734/ Mt. Pleasant, VA/ 41/ Plantation Owner/ 1/11/1797/ 62

Lee, Richard Henry/ VA/ 1/20/1732/ Stratford, VA/ 44/ Plantation Owner, Merchant/ 6/19/1794/ 62

Lewis, Francis/ NY/ 3/21/1713/ Llandaff, Wales/ 63/ Merchant/ 12/30/1802/ 89

Livingston, Philip/ NY/ 1/15/1716/ Albany, NY/ 60/ Merchant/ 6/12/1778/ 62

Lynch Jr., Thomas/ SC/ 8/5/1749/ Prince George’s Parrish, SC/ 26/ Lawyer/ c. 1779/ 30

McKean, Thomas/ DE/ 3/19/1735/ Chester Co., PA/ 42/ Lawyer/ 6/24/1817/ 83

Middleton, Arthur/ SC/ 6/26/1742/ Charleston, SC/ 34/ Plantation Owner/ 1/1/1787/ 44

Morris, Lewis/ NY/ 4/8/1726/ West Chester Co.,NY/ 50/ Plantation Owner/ 1/22/1798/ 71

Morris, Robert/ PA/ 1/31/1734/ Liverpool, England/ 42/ Merchant, Land Speculator / 5/8/1806/ 72

Morton, John/ PA/ c. 1724/ Ridley Township, PA/ 52/ Farmer/ c. 1777/ 53

Nelson Jr., Thomas/ VA/ 12/26/1738/ Yorktown, VA/ 37/ Merchant, Plantation Owner/ 1/4/1789/ 50

Paca, William/ MD/ 10/31/1740/ Abington, MD/ 35/ Lawyer, Plantation Owner/ 10/13/1799/ 58

Paine, Robert Treat/ MA/ 3/11/1731/ Boston, MA/ 45/ Lawyer, Scientist/ 5/12/1814/ 83

Penn, John / NC/ 5/6/1740/ Carolina Co., VA/ 36/ Lawyer/ 9/14/1788/ 48

Read, George/ DE/ 9/18/1733/ Northeast MD/ 42/ Lawyer/ 9/21/1798/ 65

Rodney, Caesar/ DE/ 10/7/1728/ Dover, DE/ 47/ Plantation Owner, Military Officer/ 6/29/1784/ 55

Ross, George/ PA/ 5/10/1730/ New Castle, DE/ 46/ Lawyer/ 7/14/1779/ 49

Rush, Benjamin Dr./ PA/ 1/4/1746/ Philadelphia, PA/ 30/ Physician/ 4/19/1813/ 67

Rutledge, Edward/ SC/ 11/23/1749/ Christ Church Parish, SC/ 26/ Lawyer, Plantation Owner/ 1/23/1800/ 50

Sherman, Roger/ CT/ 4/19/1721/ Newton, MA/ 55/ Lawyer/ 7/23/1793/ 72

Smith, James / PA/ c. 1719/ Northern Ireland/ 57/ Lawyer/ 7/11/1806/ 87

Stockton, Richard/ NJ/ 10/1/1730/ Princeton, NJ/ 45/ Lawyer/ 2/28/1781/ 50

Stone, Thomas/ MD/ c. 1743/ Charles Co., MD/ 33/ Lawyer/10/5/1787/ 44

Taylor, George/ PA/ c. 1716/ Ireland/ 60/ Merchant/ 2/23/1781/ 65

Thornton, Matthew/ NH/ c. 1714/ Ireland/ 62/ Physician/ 6/24/1803/ 89

Walton, George/ GA/ c. 1741/ Cumberland Co., VA/ 35/ Lawyer/ 2/2/1804/ 63

Whipple, William/ NH/ 1/14/1730/ Kittery, ME/ 46/ Merchant/ 11/28/1785/ 55

Williams, William/ CT/ 4/18/1731/ Lebannon, CT/ 45/ Merchant/ 8/2/1811/ 80

Wilson, James / PA/ 9/14/1742/ Carskerdo, Scotland/ 33/ Lawyer/ 8/21/1798/ 55

Witherspoon, John/ NJ/ 2/5/1723/ Gifford, Scotland/ 53/ Minister/ 11/15/1794/ 71

Wolcott, Oliver/ CT/ 11/20/1726/ Windsor, CT/ 49/ Lawyer/12/1/1797/ 71

Wythe, George/ VA/ c. 1726/ Elizabeth City Co., VA/ 50/ Lawyer/ 6/8/1806/ 80



INFORMATION ABRIDGED FROM HERE

I found this interesting demographic data regarding the signers of the Constitution

 

First, the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble are probably the greatest advertising copy ever written but have no legal standing except where items are duplicated in the Constitution, legislation, or case law.

Second,

>If our country is to continue as a nation of free men, we need to return to following the law of the land.

Can there be freedom where there is "law of the land?" What good did American "freedom" do the Indian People?

Third,


>Now we have to go beg the UN to give us permision to defend our own land. Some of which is under the direct control of the UN. All of our national parks and the Great lakes are under UN control. Our children are being taught according to the UN charter by UNESCO.

Someone smoking medical Mary Jane?

Fourth, Taxation without representation is evil? Half of the posts on this forum are complaints about taxation WITH representation. We just had a revolution and elected new leadership less than a year ago and most on this list are fomenting rebellion against our elected leadership. TREASON! <G>

Fifth, "'Freedom's' just another word for 'nothing left to lose.'"

Sixth, for those of you who like poetical stuff,


[FONT=Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]John Donne[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Meditation XVII: No man is an island...[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]"All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated...As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness....No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."[/SIZE][/FONT]​

 

Other information derived from that site concerning some characteristics of the signers of our Declaration of Independance:




2 were under the age of 30 at the time of signing.... both were 26

A total of 19 of the 56 signers were under the age of 40

17 were 50 or over in age: 6 were in their 60's and 1 was 70y/o

The average age at signing was 44.3 y/o.

All of them were MEN and, although some died at an early age, several within 1-5 yrs of signing, (the youngest death was at 30, and one died a year after signing), still the average age at death was 66.14yrs. 14 lived to be 80yrs or more with 3 in their 90's. [I find this interesting that with all the hardship and lack of modern technology and medical acheivements.... on which most of us do depend or regard as essential........ God blessed them with a longevity which would rival modern figures as recent as the 1960's and 1970's.]

Most of them were born here BUT 8 of them were foreign born...... or one/seventh of the number were immigrant/patriots!

One was a bachelor and on another no information is given. Of the remaining 54, they had a total of 70 marriages between them.... which means in all probability, considering the neglible divorce rate of that day, that 16 had been widowed of their first wife and remarried. One can derive the reality of experiencing and processing the grief through which they passed. Of those 54 marriages, 3 had no progeny but there were 337 offspring born to the remaining 51 signers. With the largest number at 18 children..... several had 1, several had 2, and several had only 3 children: But the average family size among all those signers with off-spring exceed 6 children per household.

They were not 'stupid' or uneducated men:
2 were ministers,
4 were physicians,
24 were lawyers,
3 were scientists,
1 was a musician,
1 a printer,
17 were merchants,
1 was a military officer,
13 owned plantations,
and 1 was a surveyor.
Some had several occupations.



In spite of the reputation we ascribe to lawyers, and merchants, and sometimes doctors, now a-days, these men were well studied in the virtues of godly living, the ancient philosophies, course of history and past wars and revolutions, the frailties of human nature and that of governments and set aside their own selfish appetites and entered into a covanant of selfless ambition with the goal of establishing Independance and a new government.

They set up the charter which specified the justifications for their separation from the former rule and necessity of pursuing a new government, and the premise that God, not government, is the author of liberty for all who would be free.

Through out our early beginnings, God has been there and his blessings and his shaping upon our nation can be seen. Now, it seems, many in society want God to go away: When we acknowledge God, we cannot do so with out acknowledging that we are also sinners and dependant on him for our salvation and liberty: But, when free men turn from God because of selfish and immoral reasons to exercise and abuse their own liberties, and society tumbles into immorality, and noone turns it around, we set up the crisis which brings upon us chains of bondage and tryanny which will control all, regarding no one as having virtue.

 

You know----------I love the United States of America

I was telling my congregation this past Sunday----July 5-------that when Lewis & Clarke were paddling their boats up and down the mighty rivers of the land back then---------they kinda sorta "mapped out" the place----know what I mean????

They saw all sorts of things------trees, rivers, creeks, bushes, rocks, mountains, valleys----you name it--they saw it

But I believe they saw something else-I believe they saw POTENTIAL!!!!!!!


And those signers of the declaration???? They knew what may happen to them when King George saw their name to that document!!!! They knew---"Hey----I could find myself danglin' from the end of a new rope!!!! Etching my name on this piece of paper-------could spell the end of my life on this Earth!!!!!"

But you know what???? They signed anyway!!!! They'd rather dangle from the end of a rope then to spend their lives under the King's tyrany!!!

And you know somethin' else????????? If somehow we could bring those signers forward to OUR day------and give them the same document written down by Thomas Jefferson-------minus the names--------but show the men we brought forward the document-------I believe---they'd sign it again

I know I would---------I'd have signed it then if I were living then----and I'd sign it today---------in fact-----just by being a United States citizen---that act alone---my citizenship here-----means that there is an unseen signature on that document---thats right

My citizenship = my unseen signature on that document!!!!