For Independence Day 1981, Parade Magazine asked President Ronald Reagan to write an article which he entitled, "What July Fourth Means to Me." He wrote it in his own words, with his own hand.
Here is an excerpt from the article President Reagan wrote:
"There is a legend about the day of our nation's birth in the little hall in Philadelphia , a day on which debate had raged for hours. The men gathered there were honorable men hard-pressed by a king who had flouted the very laws they were willing to obey. Even so, to sign the Declaration of Independence was such an irretrievable act that the walls resounded with the words 'treason, the gallows, the headsman's axe,' and the issue remained in doubt."
"The legend says that at that point a man rose and spoke. He is described as not a young man, but one who had to summon all his energy for an impassioned plea. He cited the grievances that had brought them to this moment and finally, his voice falling, he said, 'They may turn every tree into a gallows, every hole into a grave, and yet the words of that parchment can never die. To the mechanic in the workshop, they will speak hope; to the slave in the mines, freedom. Sign that parchment. Sign if the next moment the noose is around your neck, for that parchment will be the textbook of freedom, the Bible of the rights of man forever.'"
"He fell back exhausted. The 56 delegates, swept up by his eloquence, rushed forward and signed that document destined to be as immortal as a work of man can be. When they turned to thank him for his timely oratory, he was not to be found, nor could any be found who knew who he was or how he had come in or gone out through the locked and guarded doors." (Parade Magazine, June 1981)
I love this “legend” because countless, nameless people over the years have had to summon “all their energy” to make an “impassioned plea” for freedom. Each of us has an important part to play. And if we do our best, freedom will prevail!
This is a great time to talk to your family about what July 4th means to you.
Here is a link to the whole article: “What July Fourth Means to Me”
If you like Ronald Reagan, I think you’ll love the article.
And here's a video of President Reagan's Independence Day Speech from 1986.
