The shoulders of giants

The men who settled down to work that hot summer in Philadelphia were citizens of substance, leaders from their respective states, and loyal subjects of the British crown. In recent years, the monarch in far-off England had signed legislation worked up by a parliament that cared little for the colonists' demand that they be represented in that law-making body that taxed them.

Additional grievances included their ongoing denial of the privileges which ought to have been accorded them. These were distinct violations of human rights including liberty, and increasingly noisome curtailing of personal freedom in the colonies of America.

The abuses were documented in an indictment of King George III set forth in an announcement to the world that these violations amounted to an intolerable state of affairs that could no longer be endured. Brilliant men like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin added their wisdom to the campaigns of alarmists and purveyors of oratorical and writing skills such as Thomas Paine and Sam Adams to declare once for all an end to our patience and further forbearance. In July, 1776, they unanimously adopted and affixed their signatures along with the pledge of their lives, liberty and sacred honor to our Declaration of Independence.

At that we have become and all that we stand for in 2009 America must be considered a legacy of these proud and selfless men who cared more for their new country's birth, under the certain knowledge that if they failed, they would be hanged high on some British gibbet. As we continue to enjoy the blessings of the liberty they bought, we must acknowledge our great debt to them. We owe them also our ongoing maintenance of our freedoms, which has been performed by patriots who considered the spilling of their blood as a small price to pay for that great gift. We must remember and try to deserve these giants on whose shoulders we may so proudly stand.