On this day 249 years ago – July 4, 1776 – the 2nd Continental Congress approved the final draft of the Declaration of Independence, as a burgeoning nation sought to establish itself free from tyrannical one-man rule.
And while most of the delegates didn’t actually sign the Declaration until Aug. 2, 1776, we celebrate the Fourth of July as the birth of our nation largely because that was the date that begins the document.
Whatever the date, its essential truth remains worthy of reminding ourselves about today, namely the absolute (“inalienable”) right of any people to self-governance, and further, that the government they choose must derive its power from the consent of the governed…