Celebrating Independence P1

Independence Day has long been one of America’s most cherished holidays. How should it be celebrated? John Adams recommended that it “be celebrated by succeeding generations…as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.”

Many of the Founders understood that our freedoms came directly from God. As Thomas Jefferson declared: “God Who gave us life, gave us liberty.” In fact, he queried, “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed…a conviction…that these liberties are of the gift of God? John Dickinson, the “Penman of the Revolution,” a general in the War for Independence , and later a signer of the Constitution, similarly avowed, “Our cause…is nothing less than to maintain the liberty with which Heaven itself hath made us free.”

Reflecting the belief expressed by so many of America’s Founders, Independence Day festivities across the generations kept a time of thankfulness to God and a remembrance of Him at the forefront. 

More on this next week for another American Moment.

Sourced from The American Story: The Beginnings by David Barton and Tim Barton.