September 17, 2009
Happy Constitution Day!!
At ConstitutionDay.com, they say:
Constitution Day commemorates the formation and signing of the U.S. Constitution by thirty-nine brave men on September 17, 1787.
and
On September 17, 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the document they had created. We encourage all Americans to observe this important day in our nation’s history by attending local events in your area. Celebrate Constitution Day through activities, learning, parades and demonstrations of our Love for the United States of America and the Blessings of Freedom Our Founding Fathers secured for us.
ConstitutionDay.com © 2009
On their page about the Constitution they say:
Adopted on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, PA.
The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America and the Federal Government of the United States. It provides the framework for the organization of the United States Government. The document defines the three main branches of the government: The legislative branch with a bicameral Congress, an executive branch led by the President, and a judicial branch headed by the Supreme Court. Besides providing for the organization of these branches, the Constitution outlines obligations of each office, as well as provides what powers each branch may exercise. It also reserves numerous rights for the individual states, thereby establishing the United States’ federal system of government.
ConstitutionDay.com © 2009
Go visit the site! The site features the Constitution, the Amendments, and short bios of all the signatories. (But they weren’t Tories….)
Today is a day in history above all others: a day the natural, inalienable, individual rights of each man (and woman, if I need to clarify) was recognized as the foundation of proper, moral government. (It was only then that mistakes people had made through human history could be thrashed out.)
A day worthy of worship.
In Honor of the Founding Fathers and Constitution Day
“Climb Every Mountain (Reprise)” and “Climb Every Mountain” (another video: “Climb Every Mountain“). Both are from “The Sound of Music.”
You can also listen to a fairly strong version of “Climb Every Mountain” by Levi Stubbs (recording; no video) and a beautiful version by June Bronhill (from a TV show; in glorious black and white).
The sacred tribute that the Fathers and the Constitution deserve…
September 5, 2009
July 4, 2009
On Patrick Henry
Dr. John Ridpath has another excellent lecture (1 hour 11 minutes; given February 12, 2004) on the life and character of Patrick Henry, entitled “In the Dawn’s Early Light: Patrick Henry—Beacon for America.” (Requires RealPlayer.)
The lecture is summarized as follows:
On Presidents’ Day we honor some of the great men who contributed to the struggle to bring a free and secure America into existence, first among these being future Presidents Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison. Among the other founding heroes, one man stands out. This man—whom Jefferson once described as the first man on this continent—was Patrick Henry. From his first appearance on the stage of the founding drama, in 1765, to his last fiery appearance, in 1799, Patrick Henry stood as a beacon of integrity, fighting to guide the young America to safe harbor.
© 2004 Ayn Rand Institute. All rights reserved. Reproduction or linking is prohibited.
I am waiting to hear what this “linking is prohibited” clause means. I asked a few days ago, but have not heard anything yet. Since Independence Day is here, I’ll go ahead and post this, but I might end up deleting or altering the post, depending on what I hear from ARI.
The Essence of America
“America’s founding ideal was the principle of individual rights. Nothing more—and nothing less. The rest—everything that America achieved, everything she became, everything ‘noble and just,’ and heroic, and great, and unprecedented in human history—was the logical consequence of fidelity to that one principle. The first consequence was the principle of political freedom, i.e., an individual’s freedom from physical compulsion, coercion or interference by the government. The next was the economic implementation of political freedom: the system of capitalism.” (Ayn Rand, “A Preview,” The Ayn Rand Letter, I, 24, 5.)
The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence: A Transcription
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.
Independence Day Movies
Some good ones are Ruggles of Red Gap (the one with Charles Laughton!), This Land is Mine (again, the one with Charles Laughton!), The Last of the Mohicans (the recent version with Daniel Day-Lewis).
History of the Holiday
The History Channel has 7-4′s history, information and video on a page devoted to Independence Day and a page devoted to the Declaration of Independence.
