Speech of July 4th Bush Presidential Library - By J.L. Taylor

July 4, 1776 was a magnificent moment in history. Those brilliant men meeting in Philadelphia and the result of their action would usher in an era of opportunity, prosperity and freedom unparalleled in human history. Thomas Jefferson had drafted a document. On that morning, 230 years ago, there was heated debate among the delegates concerning any Declaration of Independence. As the day wore on and debate continued, John Adams, whose convictions could not endorse appeasement, took to the floor and pointing to John Hancock, made the following stirring appeal to the delegates:

"Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote. It is true, indeed, that in the beginning we aimed not at independence. But there is a Divinity which shapes our ends. The injustice of England has driven us to arms, and, blinded to her own interest for our good, she has obstinately persisted, till independence is now within our grasp. We have but to reach forth to it and it is ours. Why, then, should we defer the Declaration? Is any man so weak as now to hope for reconciliation with England? You and I indeed may rue it. We may not live to the time when this Declaration shall be made good. We may die; die colonists; die slaves, die it may be, ignominiously and on the scaffold. Be it so! Be it so! If it be the pleasure of Heaven that MY country shall require the poor offering of my life, the victim shall be ready. But while I do live, let me have a country, or at least the hope of a country, and that a FREE COUNTRY! But whatever may be our fate, be assured.that this Declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and it may cost blood, but it will stand, and it will richly compensate for both. Through the thick gloom of the present, I see the brightness of the future, as the sun in heaven. We shall make this a glorious, an immortal day. When we are in our graves, our children will honor it. They will celebrate it with thanksgiving, with festivity, with bonfires and illuminations. On its annual return, they will shed tears, copious gushing tears, not of subjection and slavery, not of agony and distress, but of exultation of gratitude and of joy! Sir, before God, I believe the hour is come. My judgement approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, all that I am, and all that I hope in this life, I am now ready, here, to stake upon it; and I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment and by the blessing of God, it shall be my dying sentiment. Independence now, Independence forever!"

As night approached on July 4th 1776, finally, rejecting caution.that congress voted unanimously, to adopt the Declaration of Independence. The Birth Certificate of our nation. John Hancock signed the document that night.

Suddenly the big bell in the state House steeple pealed joyously. News spread like wild fire. Celebrations in every colony occurred.

On August 2, 1776, 55 other delegates signed the "Declaration of Independence". They had pledged their very lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

As I close, I must tell you as Paul Harvey used to say, "The Rest of the Story!"

Earlier in life, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had their differences. In their twilight years they became warm friends by correspondence. John Adams in Massachusetts and Thomas Jefferson in Virginia.

As John Adams, almost 91 years old, lay dying on the 50th Anniversary of his greatest accomplishment (the Declaration of Independence), Adams, feeling satisfaction in having fought the good fight, expressed in his last words, some joy, that the old order had not entirely passed away. With the last breath of his life he whispered, "Thomas Jefferson still lives!"

But, there is, as John Adams had stated 50 years to the day earlier, "There is a divinity that shapes our end". History records that Thomas Jefferson died on that very same afternoon, July 4, 1826, the 50th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

On this 241st Anniversary, and on EVERY July 4th, we should Be Thankful for their vision, their courage and their sacrifice. God Bless America!!

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