Time to Honor our great Veteran’s!
The red, white, and blue of the American Flag has rippled in the wind for such an extended period of time this year. The vibrant colors of our Nation have beengleaning since the Presidential candidates began their campaigns late last winter, and they continue to billow with pride. Not only have we as a people just seen and participated in one of the most, if not thee most, historical Presidential election in our history, but we continue to wave our patriotism this November in celebration of Veterans Day.
On November 11th of every year we mark the day by honoring the men and women of our armed services who served our country with pride, courage, and valor. The day in which Veterans Day falls upon is not without significance; World War I formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when Germany signed the Armistice Treaty. Armistice Day was first proclaimed by President Woodrow Wilson for November 12, 1919, but it wasn’t until1938 that Armistice Day was recognized each and every year as a national holiday.
As history shows, The United States became involved in World War II following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. While Armistice Day continued to be celebrated after the conclusion of the second great war, November 11th was still a day that recognized and honored only those who served in the First World War. It wasn’t until the suggestion of a Kansas store owner in 1953 that Armistice Day be amended to include all veterans who served in the United States Military. A year later, in 1954, Armistice Day was changed to Veterans Day, thus recognizing all of those who fought to protect our freedom.
There is a common misconception with the observances of Memorial Day and Veterans Day. To get technical for a hot second, Memorial Day honors military personnel who died in the service. While those who died are also remembered on Veterans Day, Veterans Day is broadened to honor everyone who served in a military branch. That includes anyone who served at any time, either during war or peacetime.
That is a whole lot of history. But it really is relative, because there’s many men and women who have served to protect our freedoms, and our flag. Today there are nearly 25 million veterans currently alive, and 75 percent of them served during a war or an official period of aggression or conflict. Sometimes it might seem that giving all of these brave people just one day of recognition is not nearly enough. But they really do receive much more, and deservedly so. Aside from getting star spangled thank you’s in parades and celebrations around the United States… in big towns and small, in city squares decorated with colorful bunting and fans, to a small crowd of school children waving American stick flags, the appreciation of our veterans is unwavering.
That being said, while a single day is set aside as an official holiday on the calendar for our veterans, the days surrounding this year’s Veterans Day have been proclaimed by the President to be a period of awareness. Good ol’ President George W. Bush likes himself some pretzels, but he loves and appreciates our veterans. So much so, that at the end of October he declared the days between November 9, 2008 and November 15, 2008 as National Veterans Awareness Week. The extended period before and after Veterans Day on November 11th is to help develop educational programs regarding the contributions of veterans.
It’s hard to imagine that we could ever repay the courageous individuals who have fought to protect our liberties and borders, and we may also find it doubly daunting to convey our appreciation to them. It may sound insignificant and effortless, but the simplest gesture of waving a small US flag, attending a Veterans Day parade, or wearing a flag pin proudly on your chest might be some of the greatest of all appreciative expressions. For a veteran, seeing Old Glory waved proudly is the greatest tribute. Between today and the remainder of National Veterans Awareness Week, take a moment to reflect on the contributions and sacrifices of our brothers, sisters, neighbors, friends, and colleagues, and thank them by living proudly with the freedom they fought to secure for us.
One great way to help America honor it’s Veterans is to let the world know who they are! I came across an online Virtual Wall of Honor and it’s an amazing way to show your love for everything the proud men and women of our Armed Forces have done for our country. I had to put my grandfather on there! He’s always been a great influence to me and I want to honor him in every way that I can. It was really easy to do also. I’ve been on a lot of websites, I love the internet! If you want to submit a friend or family member you should put them on the Virtual Wall of Honor also. It’s actually very cool to see the names and photos of part of Americas history!! What better way to celebrate Veteran’s Day and help honor those who gives me the right to even write this blog in the first place. I love showing my patriotism!!
Happy Veteran’s Day!
Lexi
It’s Election Day!
Goodness gracious! So much political mumbo jumbo to sift through. It can really get confusing, can’t it? The advertising is crazy. Those politicians and their commercials! You know, I always thought that political ads should be made to be entertaining, like those hilarious Superbowl commercials. Now that would make things more fun, and maybe a little less cutthroat. Aside from the way the commercials can be, it’s incredibly confusing to get the feeling we know what we need to know about our political candidates, and that all the “facts” we hear about are, in fact, real facts. It’s like that disclaimer on the television movie of the week: THE FOLLOWING IS BASED ON ACTUAL EVENTS. So sure, maybe some of those political commercials have facts, but they could be twisted with words to almost become larger than life… like a movie or TV show, and turned around so much that the fact it’s based on really has no truth surrounding the rest of it at all. My point? Get the facts! Just the facts, Jack! LOL!
Considering all of the advertising, stories, news reports, and fluff stories, I started to think about the political groups that represent us as a people, and how they originally came to be what we see today. Throughout our nation’s political history there have been two main parties. They started as the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, and these developed over the years to the current Democrats and Republicans. There are plenty of third party systems, but they garner little attention and are not fully respected. That is evident during televised debates when we only see the Democratic and Republican parties represented.
Minor parties usually focus on specific issues and lack broad policy to win a national election. While their presidential candidates stand little chance of being elected, third parties have historically promoted concepts and policies that have been incorporated as important parts of our social and political lives. Some of the key issues originally brought to the national forefront by third parties were: a woman’s right to vote (HECK YA!! :-) ), child labor laws , immigration restrictions , the reduction of working hours … policy that led to our 40-hour work week, Income Tax, and Social Security.
The most visible third party political systems in the United States are the Libertarian, Reform, Green and Constitution Parties. These are traditionally the most active during a presidential election.
All that aside, I really do enjoy all of this pomp and circumstance that surrounds the electoral process . It’s such a big thing, and, really, it’s soooo entirely American! The best part for me is seeing all of the colors of the American flag being used. Anywhere you look, no matter if you’re out and about, or at home watching TV, it’s a parade of American Flag colors. Driving down the street, lawns are decorated with political signs and custom banners, all colored red, white, or blue. Many city street lamp posts and light poles hang street banners, signaling election season. The decorated establishments are the best! It could be anywhere, too! The take-out counter of a restaurant, a bank teller’s window, the entire ring surrounding a sports field… lots of places hanging patriotic bunting. Ooooh, it’s soooo pretty! It’s been so nice to see everybody getting in to the spirit of election time. Pretty soon, all of the patriotic decor will be swapped out for Thanksgiving decorations, Christmas, and other big events of the season. BUT, let’s not forget a HUGE event coming where we will again get to see more bunting, patriotic fans, American flags, and all kinds of American splendor; Inauguration Day on January 20, 2009.
Who’s going to be Inaugurated in January? Who can say right now? Actually, YOU can say! Get out and vote!!! They offered early voting , but I want to wait until the official day on November 4th . It’s my very first time voting for POTUS, so I want my first time to be done in the traditional way. I’m gonna wait in line at my local district polling station, wear my American flag lapel pin, sign my name in the log book, and cast my ballot when it’s my turn in line. I have a feeling the line might be long. I might stop for a hot dog on the way to the polling place! HAH!!!
See you after the Election!
Lexi
Are you wearing your pink this October?
Gosh, it really is getting to be a busy time of year, aint it?? It only feels like New Year’s Day was yesterday, and here we are already in October. There’s less than two months until Christmas, and I haven’t even started my shopping. What’s more important, I haven’t even started my own wish list! LOL! I need to start jotting down little hints on Post-It Notes, and stick them around my mom’s house. The refrigerator is my favorite spot to drop a hint… my dad is always opening the refrigerator door. He’s actually really silly about the fridge! He’s got this harmless little O.C.D. about refrigerators… no matter if he’s hungry or not, every time my dad is in the kitchen he looks in the fridge. Maybe I’ll start dropping Christmas hints in the lettuce crisper. HAHA! But who am I kidding? My dad would never voluntarily go for the lettuce… I’ll dop my hints on the ice cream in the freezer.
I’m getting ahead of myself, though. While Christmas is coming, Thanksgiving is just a month away, and Halloween is at the end of this month. I sooo cannot wait for Halloween this year! I have had my costume planned for months. I’m going as Betsy Ross! :-) I have a cute, blue dress, white shirt and red apron for my hips, and I’m going to carry around a partially swen American Flag. And I really sewed the flag all by myself! Good thing I only had to fashion thirteen stars on that version, which they actually call the “Betsy Ross” flag… embroidering is a major pain in the badonkadonk! LOL!! And just in case you might be thinking about making your own flag, I’ll just tell you now that it’s much easier, and well worth it to just buy a US flag already made and ready to fly on your flag pole.
For the rest of this month, up until Halloween, I’ll be wearing pink every day I can, if not at least a pink lapel pin to symbolize I am recognizing it. I actually keep a pink ribbon magnet on my car year round! That’s because October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, or NBCAM. Breast cancer is such an important issue today. Well, all health issues are important… they really are… but breast canver is a big one because is affects so many people. It’s the number-one cancer in women, second leading cause of cancer death in women (after lung cancer). And, you might be surprised, but men can get breast cancer, too! I was really taken back when I found that out. It’s not really that common though, at least not as common as it is for women. Only about one percent of breast cancer cases are found in men. Still, though, that’s one percent too many, for anyone. Men or women!
Did you know that breast cancer is also the oldest known form of cancer? The earliest accounts date back to sometime around 1600 BC in Egypt. Back then it was documented that the illness was untreatable. Today that is far from the truth. We’ve come a loooong way with medicine and science since those days, and many forms of breast cancer can be treated and removed. Still, it has affected many throughout history, including the mother of our first United States President.
George Washington’s mom, Mary Washington, lost her life to breast cancer, and the daughter of John Adams, our second United States President, also battled with the disease. She was treated for some time, but medical treatments at the time were far too archaic, and she also eventually died. That was not the last time the disease affected the White House, either. Former First Lady Betty Ford, a breast cancer survivor and one of the first public figures to speak out about the disease, joined her daughter on TV to call attention to the importance of screening. Soon after that, a great wave of recognizable people, and those of influence, jumped onboard to raise awareness and funds to research a cure.
I’m not the first to blog about breast cancer, and i’m surely not going to be the last, either. Everyone needs to know about the devastation of breast cancer - at least I think they do - and everyone should be able to lend a helping hand to look for the cure. The smallest gesture of buying a pink ribbon lapel pin, or affixing a pink ribbon magnet to your car a just a couple of ways you can help. The couple bucks spent on those things help show your support, and maybe someday real soon, a cure will be found, and we won’t have to blog about it anymore. Wouldn’t that be great! YES! It would be WONDERFUL!
I can’t write about all of the things you should know about regarding breast cancer (because this blog would be, like, a million pages long). But if you’re reading this, and you don’t know much about it, I have included a few web pages that you can take a look at:
http://www.breastcancer.org
http://nbcam.org/index.cfm
http://cms.komen.org/komen/index.htm
Those are just a few of the sites on the web — there are many more, but it’s a real good place to start if you need information. There’s only a few days laft in October, but that doesn’t mean that your activism with breast cancer has to stop at the end of the month. Breast cancer is a year-round problem, and until a cure is found, awareness and education is a year-round mission.
Until next time! Lexi
It’s election year and the decisions are tough!
So…I know I mentioned this before, but I am soooo ultra pumped up to vote this year!! This is my first time voting in a Presidential election . I’m a votin’ newbie! LOL! Seriously though, because this is the first time that MY vote will be counted, I’ve been doing tons of reading, kind of like doing homework on what is important to helping me make my decision: studying up on the issues, and getting to know as much about our candidates as possible. There really is no other way to do it. If you just pick one without knowing why, well, that’s like driving with a blindfold!!
This year’s Presidential races have been so exciting, mostly because of the history-making set of first-time events. Regardless of the outcome this November, there will be a new chapter that needs to be written to history books. We will be ushering in our first ever African American President, or our first female Vice President. You couldn’t even write this as a movie and have it be as fantastic and unbelievable as it has been.
Since this is my first time participating in our Nation’s electoral process, I decided to brush up on some of our political history. I found out some really interesting stuff! And its kind of important when you think about it, because they relate directly to this year’s election! First of all, everyone knows that it’s a right and a privilege to vote. Some people don’t do it, but it really is important. Some countries take voting so seriously that the people have to vote! It’s called compulsory voting. It’s a really weird system. People who are allowed to vote are actually forced to vote. If they don’t cast a ballot they can be punished with fines, or even put in jail! No Thanks!!!
Here in the United States our history went through all kinds of changes to get to where we are today. It used to be that only white men could vote. And not all of them! White men who owned land were the ones who were given the right participate in an election. The system stayed that way until the Fifteenth Amendment was added to the United States Constitution in1870.Historically known as one of the Reconstruction Amendments, the Fifteenth Amendment gave African Americans and other minorities the right to vote. Women? Fuggetaboutit! LOL! Seriously though, that was an even tougher fight. Women had to wait until 1920 when the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was added, which states that a United States citizen cannot be excluded from the voting process because of gender. Before that time only a handful of states recognized women’s suffrage, and even then, it was still next to impossible to be a woman and allowed to vote in those states. There were all kinds of rules and stipulations; it was like reading blueprints in some states. The Nineteenth Amendment finally gave every female citizen of age the right to vote.
I think those two parts of our history are sooo relevant today because, without those changes to our Constitution, who knows where we’d be today? Now that I spent all this time revisiting my American History, I’m going to spend the rest of the month researching the candidates! This is so much fun! I did manage to put on a patriotic us flag lapel pin and gather up a few miniature American flags for when I go to a few speeches to learn more about the candidates. One thing is for sure that this time of year, and that is I really get to wear my favorite red, white and blue colors!!!
Oh just to nip it in the bud, before any of my nearest and dearest call to ask me who I am voting for, I still haven’t decided; but I’m getting close to making up my mind. I think. You know how girls can be! It’s like that new song by Katy Perry, “Hot N Cold” (which is practically my theme song!) I’m always changing my mind! Hee hee!!!
Are you ready for some football?
Like, total sensory overload! Holy smokes!!! The NCAA football season has begun; I can’t believe it’s already here, but it’s great. Where I live in North Carolina – the best place there is – there are so many schools to follow. And they’re all playing so well right now! It makes me so proud to see that, not only are the teams doing so well, but that all the fans are really getting in to it. Rabid, in fact! There’s so much excitement, it’s in Technicolor!
College football is so huge, I can’t even keep my head straight sometimes. I don’t even know how anyone can keep all of them straight. There’s like 1,200 or so schools in the NCAA. How can you figure out who’s really deserving of a top 25 ranking, let alone a #1 or #2 spot? OY! That’s making me dizzy… I need to stop thinking so hard! HAHA!!
The league is important though. They used to play college sports without a sanctioned league, and that created all kinds of problems. The problems got to be so big – things like injuries and disagreements over rules – that they reached up all the way to the President of the United States!
In 1906 Teddy Roosevelt saw, firsthand, the problems with college athletics when his son was hurt playing football at school. From that experience he got the big schools together and made changes to create the governing body, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States. Today it’s the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA, and most often pronounced "N-C-Double-A"). Aint it amazing the things you learn from paying attention in American History?!?!
So… I love the sport, but my favorite part is tailgating before the games. Even driving to the stadium is always an adventure… First off, I get up real early and go outside to get the car all decked out with my teams NCAA sports flags. If I’m gonna stand in the parking lot for a couple hours before the game, I’m making sure everyone knows who I’m rooting for! LOL! I clip on my NCAA teams car flags to the windows, and fix my magnets to the doors. It’s awesome when everyone beeps their horns on the way to the stadium, throwing a thumbs-up my way.
When we get to the lot, I get the big NCAA team flag and drape it over the car. Yeah, I know, right?! But tailgating is some serious business! After that, we get out the big stuff! The grill and the event tent I had custom made with the team colors are tailgating staples. You can’t eat hot dogs without a grill (mmmmm…. hot dogs!), and you can’t put out your serving tables unless you have an event tent. That’s not reeeeally a rule, but that’s how I like it!
Grilling up some hot dogs next to the tent, playing a game of washers, and enjoying the sea of people, all doing the same thing I’m doing. Rows and rows of cars with car flags, tents, and people grilling up all kinds of delicious food, all waiting to cheer on our team. There’s no better way to spend a Saturday in the fall. Unless of course your team plays a game on Thursday night! LOL!
Lexi
Back from Beijing
Okay, so I made it back home from Beijing just in time for the Labor Day weekend festivities. All I can say is AMEN for that! I had a fabulous time in Beijing, but if I had to eat one more rice and noodle lunch… well… never mind that… but let’s just say that the family picnic on Labor Day was the perfect medicine for this particular homesick girl!! I made so many friends from all over the world while cheering on Michael Phelps to Olympic history. Awww, Michael Phelps… HA! I still can’t believe he won so many medals. I’m so happy for him, and for the USA. We also won the gold medal again for basketball. Coach K had those boys ready. The Redeem Team certainly did not disappoint anyone time time around. That relay race! Holy smokes! I can’t believe they missed the hand-off! UGHH!!! LOL!
Medals aside, I still am reminded of the spectacle of the whole thing that was the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. The fact that for two weeks this year, nearly every country in the world gathered in one place with the best athletes they had to offer, and put on a show that I will remember forever. The people I met who have become my new friends, wow, they were great. I have so many pen pals now, my email is loaded every day with messages from Mexico, Italy, Jamaica, and yes, China of course! :-) I have to be sure and get everyone’s mailing addresses so I can send them a little USA / International Flag pin with my flag and their flag on it, and maybe a little USA flag for their room or something. Hey, you know what they say, "start small." LOL!
Labor Day is always a tad bittersweet to me. Sure, it’s a national holiday, and a day off from work is awesome, but Labor Day is that flashing light, that division bell, that final signal that Summer is just about over. Parades, picnics, hot dogs! Those things are all wonderful and I love them (especially hot dogs!), but saying so long to Summer is always something that pulls at my heartstrings.
Labor Day isn’t even that old of a holiday. I mean, sure, it’s 126 years old this year, first celebrated in 1882 - which is pretty old - but that’s just a little more than half of the age of the USA. Definitely a lot older than you and me, that’s for sure! LOL! Actually, if you think about Memorial Day and Labor Day as the bookends of the Summer season, Labor Day is the older of the two. the big brother, if you will… Memorial Day wasn’t a holiday until 1911.
I suppose it’s not so bad, really. I think I’m just a bit sentimental… I think about when I was younger, in school, and how Labor Day meant that the new school year was starting soon. No more lazy summer days, goofing off, climbing trees, and riding my bike around the neighborhood (complete with tasseled fringe and bell on the handlebars). Now that I’m grown up and out of school, and have a horn on my car instead of a bell on the handlebars, I don’t have that sinking feeling anymore about Summer coming to a close. Now, I look forward to the beautiful colors of the Fall season, pulling out my NCAA flag and NFL football flag for my favorite teams, and the upcoming holiday season. Gosh, there’s so many, and I sure do love me some Halloween! I think I might dress up as Betsy Ross this year! HAHA!
So, yeah, our Labor Day picnic… the Fam’ totally decked out the holiday picnic with a USA patriotic motif. They said they did it as a "welcome home" surprise for me cuz I was gone for two weeks, halfway across the planet, but they don’t fool me none. My mom and dad, and my brothers, George and John, share the same affinity for the red, white, and blue, just like me. Can you guess why my brothers are named George and John? George Washington and John Adams! The first two President’s of the USA!!! Pretty corny, for sure. I can only guess that I ended up as Lexi because they couldn’t come up with a female version of Thomas (which would be for Thomas Jefferson, our third President)! Like I said, certainly corny, but not nearly as bad as the kids down the street who I rode with on the morning school bus while growing up.
OH! Speaking of Presidents, I sooooo cannot wait!! This is the first time that I’ll be privileged to vote in a Presidential Election. And what an election year it’s turning out to be. I’m still new to this whole thing, but what a way to get ushered in, don’t you think? So many firsts in this year’s election, and it’s also MY first time voting. Can’t be a coincidence!
Time to catch up on getting back on the right timezone. I’m still jet lagged but glad to be home.
Lexi
The Olympic Opening Ceremony, what a show!
Flags of every nation splashed color in the crowd of thousands of people, from just about anywhere and everywhere you could possibly think. I managed to make my favorite colors of red, white and blue, the most prominent part of my wardrobe!!! I brought with me a large US Flag, draped over my shoulder, to wave like a crazy person when our athletes marched in to the stadium. I was pretty loud, too! I think one of them basketball players heard me shouting, “PHLEPS!!!” cuz someone looked in my general direction. Mmmmm, Phelps… he’s so great! And he’s a good swimmer, too… tee hee hee!
I also wore a whole punch of pins on my favorite USA t-shirt. I attached a US and State Flag Lapel Pin to my shirt. That way everyone knew I was not only American, but that I’m also from the Tar Heel State! The best there is! WOO! I popped on a bunch of Star Lapel Pins, too! Fifty of them! Guess what for?! HA! I put them all over the front of my shirt; I probably looked like a constellation. One thing’s for sure: there was no question in anyone’s mind who this girl was rooting for. Just cuz I’m abroad for the summer, trading in my favorite diet of hot dogs and apple pie for asian cuisine, doesn’t mean I checked my patriotism at the border when I got off the plane. I’m loud, I’m proud, and I love my country! No reason I should hide that.
The opening ceremony was truly a site for the ages. I sat next to a family from Canada who draped themselves, head to toe, in red and white. The littlest boy of the group, who was probably no more than six or seven years old, wore a Canadian flag like a cape. He was like Super Maple Leaf Man!! It reminded me of how beautiful International Flags are. A couple rows above me were people from France, Jamaica, Mexico… and proud Chinese natives were all about the stadium.
While enjoying the fireworks show I could not help but hum, to myself, all of the classic American hymns that we know so well on the Fourth of July. It just doesn’t seem right to watch a fireworks show and not think about the birth of our nation, the best on Earth! I’m so glad I was able to see the show from the seats, and to cheer on our athletes to victory for the next two weeks.
And on that note, I’m off to the Water Cube to catch a glimpse of Team USA in a swimming match. And I’ll tell you one thing, I really do like Chinese food, but I could really go for a hot dog and some potato salad right now! Hopefully, next time you hear from me, I’ll have found myself a yummy piece of home, and maybe, just maybe, I will see Michael Phelps break a record, too! Soooo much fun!
Lexi
The Best Birthday Present - Ever!
Hello e-friends.
Lexi
Honor - Sometimes One Day is not Enough
Hello e-Friends.
(verb, primary definition) - to hold in high honor or respect.
- 1979 - The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. was created to establish a memorial to veterans of the Vietnam War.
- 1980 - Congress authorizes three acres near the Lincoln Memorial to be used as a site for the memorial.
- 1980 - 2,573 register for design competition with a prize of $50,000.
- 1981 - 1,421 designs for the memorial are submitted! to 232, finally 39. The jury selected Entry Number 1026.
- 1981 - a jury of eight architects and sculptors selecte a design by Maya Ying Lin, a 21 year old Yale University architecture student.
- 1982 - The Three Soldiers was added to the design as a result of controversy over Lin’s design.
- 1982 - The design was formally approved & ground was finally broken.
- November 1982 – The memorial is dedicated following a march to its site by thousands of Vietnam War veterans. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places the same day.
So e-Friends, if you have a chance to see it, you should. It’s the best kind of art – art that honors (IMHO).
If you love tributes, check out this super-fabuloso “Virtual Wall of Honor” from my friends at Carrot-Top Industries:
http://www.carrot-top.com/catalog/Virtual-Wall-of-Honor,982.aspx
Art? Yes, virtually…..
Until next time e-Friends,
Lexi
The Declaration of Independence
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
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.
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. — 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 harass 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 benefit 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.
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.
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.