Disclaimer: No part of this note is in any way the endorsement of a political party and does not reflect any of my writings in my latest book, Christianity and Culture: A Christian Perspective on Worldview Development. This is simply my thoughts on the meaning of the Fourth of July in American history.
“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.” Thomas Jefferson
This weekend, Americans everywhere took the time to commemorate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It has been 234 years since our forefathers declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain and for that we thank God for His many blessings upon this country. And on goes the celebration! Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. It is said that this nation spends billions of dollars during the July 4th weekend celebration each year, but unfortunately very few Americans know the meaning of freedom and the documents that were drafted to secure such freedom.
American Democracy and Freedom
In Democracy in America, Frenchman Alex de Tocqueville (1835) captured an idea that has since become known as the American liberal tradition.[1] When describing the emergence of American democracy, Tocqueville wrote, “The revolution in the United States was produced by a mature and reflective taste for freedom, and not by a vague and indefinite instinct of independence. It was not supported by passions of disorder; but, on the contrary, it advanced with a love of order and of legality.”[2] Tocqueville understands American democracy as a democratic regime at rest (stasis) because of its potency to bring liberty, particularly the personal freedom to do what is right. He also believes that Christianity “has rendered all men equal before God” (11). Louise Cowan and Os Guinness (1998) write that Democracy in America analyzes the workings of a free society and religion’s critical role in ensuring that it remains free.[3]
The Documents
No two documents in American history have been more vehemently debated or interpreted than the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address. Ironically they both respectively make up the fundamental artifacts of the American Republic apart from the United States Constitution. Based on the premise that “… all men are created equal, [and] that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, (life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness),” these documents share common truths concerning the founding of the American Republic as a political community.
Another Primer on Freedom
The Republic of Plato is the greatest work written on the political community and the power to rule. The Republic begins with the question “what is justice?”[4] In light of the concepts of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address both tackle the philosopher’s quest to define justice and equality. Justice or the good of the many is the goal of a democratic regime. The writers of the Declaration of Independence express the people’s desire to be free from the Tyranny of English colonization. Its premise is that freedom is for the good of the people, thus deliberating a verdict for justice. The same can be said of the Gettysburg Address, perhaps the greatest propaganda for war in world history; Abraham Lincoln’s public address is indeed one of justice’s greatest credence.
As we celebrate freedom, I pray that we remember that “all men are created equal” and that we have been endowed such freedom from our Creator God. God gave America freedom from the cruelty of British tyranny but God never gave America independence from our dependence from His sovereign authority! This is my prayer for all Americans and human beings across the world!
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[1] Smith, Rogers M. “Beyond Tocqueville, Myrdal, and Hartz: The Multiple Traditions in America.” The American Political Science Review 87.3 (1993): 549-556.
[2] Tocqueville, Alexis De (author), Harvey C. Mansfield and Delba Winthrop (Translators), (2000). Democracy in America. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 67.
[3]Cowan, Louise and Os Guinness (1998). Invitation to the Classics: A Guide to Books You’ve Always wanted to Read. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 228
[4] Bloom, Allan (1991). The Republic of Plato. New York, NY: Basic Books/Perseus Books, 7-34 (330d-354c).
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