A LETTER TO SCOTLAND - July 4, 2019
by Dave Rogers
We too were once British.
HERE IN AMERICA every July 4th we celebrate our Independence Day (from the British Government) and as I write this at night the fireworks shows have just finished.
Sometimes when you continue to be abused by a government YOU MUST do the right thing and "throw off" that government and create your own to protect your people from that abuse. This is a right and it is a duty. You do it for yourself, yes, but you do it more for others, because you are protecting the rights and freedom of your fellow citizens.
On July 4th, 1776 the 13 British American Colonies declared their independence from the British Government. This was a sad time and a hopeful time too. America's Founding Fathers were proud Brits. All were elected representatives in their colonies to their colonial legislatures (like a parliament). In 1774, the 13 American Colonial governments sent a few representatives to a gathering they called a "Continental Congress" to discuss the major problems of abuse from the Westminster Parliament and King George III. We call these colonial representatives our "Founding Fathers."
The Continental Congress sent many diplomats to London to try to argue for a peaceful answer to their complaints. Remember they were all proud British citizens and they did not want to leave. Their efforts for a peaceful solution were denied harshly and after continued abuse by London they were forced to take action to protect their people they represented from continued abuse - they declared their independence from Britain. It was obviously a very controversial decision since they all were British citizens. It divided the people greatly into "Loyalists" (30%) like the UK Unionists of today and to "Patriots" (40%) who were for liberty.
The Continental Congress decided it was a good thing to publicly declare their reasons or causes for separating from Britain so they wrote it down in the Declaration of 1776. Thomas Jefferson, a Scottish American, authored it with the input of a committee of 5. Our Declaration was modeled after, in part, on the Scottish Declaration of Arbroath of 1320 - which celebrates its 700th Anniversary next year April 6, 2020.
Excerpt from the Declaration of Independence:
"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, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
READ / VIEW THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE:
www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
MORE INFO on the Scottish Declaration of Arbroath of 1320:
www.ScottishAmerican.org/history/#arbroath
