Those were the words written 235 years ago today by George III in his personal diary. Of course, with transoceanic communications being very different back in 1776 than they are today, he had no way of knowing that his American colonies, already in rebellion, had formally declared their independence. By the time the delegates to the Continental Congress voted on Jefferson’s text, Rhode Island had already declared its independence two months earlier on May 4, 1776. Meanwhile, New Yorkers remained British subjects for an additional five days before New York’s legislature ratified the Declaration of Independence on July 9, 1776.
Something of importance did happen that day. It marked the first time colonies broke from their mother country to become a nation in their own right. Within 50 years, most of the Western Hemisphere would become independent – only Canada, most of the Caribbean and the northern coast of South America would remain controlled by their European mother countries. Little more than a decade later, America’s revolution would inspire France’s. It marked an important point in the world’s slow, but steady, shift towards republicanism, whether de jure or de facto.
Our new country was by no means ideal. Our Declaration of Independence may have said that all men are created equal, but that was far from the reality of the situation. The new states still restricted the franchise to white, propertied men. Most required that voters and officeholders also be members of the established state church. Women had few rights to begin with, and married women had even fewer rights. And in all 13 of the new states it was still permissible to own human beings.
Following eight years of war, the thirteen rebellious colonies won their independence as the new United States of America. After our first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, proved inadequate, we adopted the current United States Constitution. Our Constitution’s preamble speaks in lofty language:
We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
For 222 years, since George Washington first took the oath of office on April 30, 1789, we have worked to further the words of the preamble – to make our country a more perfect Union. Slowly, but surely, we have given greater and greater meaning to the words of our Declaration of Independence and the words of our Constitution’s preamble.
- Almost immediately after independence northern states started abolishing slavery and after four years of bloody civil war we finally abolished slavery throughout the nation
- After 80 years we finally declared race was not a basis for denying citizenship and began applying the Bill of Rights to the states
- After 82 years, our Constitution finally declared the right to vote could not be denied on account of race, even another 95 years for it to finally be realized for good
- After 132 years, 72 years after Seneca Falls, and 51 years after Wyoming, women finally got the vote nationwide
- After 145 years, and in the midst of the Great Depression, we finally began to implement a social safety net, work that would continue for the next 30, and remains unfinished to this day
- After 166 years we would finally begin to breathe new life into the promises made after the Civil War
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Our work to make a more perfect Union continues, and it shall always continue. To quote the late Senator Edward Kennedy:
For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.
For all our faults, we live in a great country. I love this country very deeply. I want to make this country a better place. It is why I am a Democrat. It is why I, and I imagine most of us, are at this site. On this Fourth of July, I am proud to be an American. Have a happy Fourth of July, everyone.
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