Independence Day
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008
In honor of Independence Day, here is the full text of the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration is always worth reading on the Fourth of July between the picnics and fireworks just so we remember why we are celebrating.
Thomas Mitchell wrote an interesting column this week in the Las Vegas Review Journal placing the Declaration of Independence in its historical context and then wondering whether the American people still share those same ideals today. Mitchell writes:
Today Americans whine about FEMA not coming quickly enough to the rescue, demand bailouts for those who took out home loans they could not afford, complain about Congress and the president letting gasoline prices soar, cheer a candidate who talks about the nation in collectivist terms, and are ready to raise taxes on everyone else.
At the time of the Revolution, it is estimated the typical tax burden — with or without representation — was 20 cents per capita per year at a time when annual earnings were somewhere between $60 and $100. Today the total tax burden is upward of 40 percent.
We plan to reprint the Declaration of Independence Friday on the editorial page. But I must wonder if we have lost that American mind-set that Jefferson cherished. How many of us are still willing for the sake of true liberty to pledge “our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor”?
