Two hundred and forty-four years ago a group of men signed a remarkable document: a Declaration of Independence. They wrote out their reasons for defying their King, and signed their names to it, then published the whole thing. They even sent a copy to the King they were challenging, even though they all knew this would bring down the full force of what was, at the time, the mightiest military power in the world.
The signers of the Declaration were not desperate men. Most were well-off, and some were quite rich. They had a lot to lose, and of course the penalty for what they were doing was death. But they made their choice because they — and many of their fellow citizens — believed that they were no longer Englishmen. They were Americans. They chose to be Americans and fight to be Americans even if being American would get them hanged or shot.
Today we should remember that choice, and live up to it. Be Americans.
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