Independence

In most teachings of the Declaration of Independence the debates, the arguments, and the editing of the document are not really emphasized as much as they deserve. The final document is representative of the constant debates which have marked the history of the nation begun on Independence Day.

The Revolutionary War started with "the shot heard around the world" fired at Lexington on April 19, 1775. Captain John Parker, the commander of the colonial militia at Lexington, allegedly told his men, "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here." A side note to this history making event is that at the time of that battle Parker was dying from consumption (tuberculosis). He would, die from the disease on Sept. 17,1775. He is honored by the U.S. Army as John Parker's likeness surrounded by a laurel wreath is the logo for the Army Reserve.

No one knows who fired that first shot which started the war on April 19, but the Declaration was not completed and signed until July 1776. The statement taken from the Declaration which stunned governments around the world was, "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..." When the Declaration of Independence was signed most nations were led by a monarch and the concept of governments made with the consent of the governed was radical. The impact of the ideas in the Declaration would take many years to change the world.

One of the great ironies associated with the Declaration is that in September 1945, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam to be independent of French rule. His Declaration of Independence begins "All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." Ho Chi Minh believed the U.S. Declaration meant the U.S. would support the Vietnamese fight for freedom from colonial status.

Jack Dragoni attended Boston College and served in the U.S. Army in Berlin and Vietnam. He lives in Chaffee, Missouri.