Happy Treason Day Everyone!

Now, before you let your wrath boil over, give this article a chance.  The question is, would we give it all for our freedom and our democracy?  In America, we have had a culture of laying down our lives and treasure for this nation.  I am every moment thankful for the veterans who fought foreign wars to keep this country safe and for the veterans whose service has deterred foreign aggression both in this country and around the world.  But……. for the forefathers of this nation, it was a particularly perilous choice that they were making. Declaring independence from the world superpower of the 1700s was a daunting decision that carried repercussions.  Almost before the ink was dry on the Declaration of Independence, the signers’ lives were in jeopardy.  We remember the George Washingtons, the Paul Reveres and the Henry Knoxs (oh, you don’t remember him, well we will talk about him in a bit) of the revolution, but we often forget that this nation was won by the thousands of ordinary citizens that believed in freedom, free enterprise and democracy.  The 4^th is a celebration of cheeky traitors that had the audacity to believe that man was ordained with innate rights by the creator and that no man had the right to trample on these holy virtues.  Yes, our forefathers committed treason and faced all the ferocity of a nation and a king trying to destroy the sparks of liberty.

While we are having a BBQ, watching fireworks, going to a parade, etc., we often let the real cost of such simple freedoms slip from our mind, but in 1776 it was serious, deadly serious.  Factually, among the signers of the Declaration, 5 were captured and tortured before dying, 12 had their homes ransacked and burned, and 9 fought and died from wounds or hardships of war.  The signers weren’t the only ones who paid the price.  25,000 soldiers were wounded, 6,800 were killed in battle, 10,000 died of disease, and 8,500 died in British prison ships.  There was a real cost paid for our beloved nation, and we bloviate about our childish problems and act offended by sniveling politicians that complain because they didn’t get the respect they thought they deserved.  I hate to break it to some of you, but the freedom we enjoy has cost an immense amount of blood and treasure, and the lack of reverence we show for it sometimes is heartbreaking.

Before you fall into an abyss of despair with me, I remind you of Henry Knox (the guy from the first paragraph).  Henry Knox lost his father at age 9 and became a clerk in a bookstore to support his mother.  There he read about war strategy and artillery and eventually became a general and head of artillery for the Revolutionary War effort.  Therein, my friends, lies the story of America. Ordinary people achieving extraordinary feats.  The neighbor next door, against unspeakable odds, rising up for themselves, their family, and their nation.  Is it common? NO. Is it likely? NO. Is it statistically possible? Barely, but it does happen.  The miracle of America is not that everyone will have everything or that everyone will contribute greatly.  The miracle of America is that it provides the opportunity for individuals to rise up and reach their potential.  Americans have always had the right to rise and achieve, but without those brave individuals who first committed treason, we might still be drinking tea instead of coffee.

Happy Treason Day, my friends. May your 4^th of July be filled with the remembrance of those who paid for this dream we call America!