INDEPENDENCE DAY IS ALL ABOUT COMMON SENSE

By Don Jans

Today, Americans will wave the flag, watch parades and fireworks, spout slogans and yet most have not learned and do not understand what Independence Day really is. Some forget, but most have not been taught the significance of 1776 and the risk people took so we can have a day off work on July 4th. The people who signed the Declaration of Independence and many other Colonists put their lives in danger, for if what they started was not successfully completed; they would at best be jailed and at worst hung or shot.

Thomas Paine was one of these, for it was his writing that has been given great credit for swaying many of the colonists to side with those other colonists proclaiming independence from the rule of the British. Thomas Paine’s pamphlet “Common Sense” was published in January of 1776 and is often cited as being the most persuasive. The writings of Thomas Paine are not known, taught nor read by current day Americans. That could be because what he wrote is in direct contrast to the beliefs of the current administration, some Supreme Court Justices, many members of congress and many Americans.

This is a writing from Thomas Paine that illustrates the heart of his writing and the heart of the American Revolution. Is this the reason you celebrate the 4th of July? Is this the core belief of America today? Would you be willing to take the same risk the signers of the Declaration of Independence took to restore this belief, which is the reason we as a nation reached greatness?

COMMON SENSE by Thomas Paine

I do not choose to be a common man,

It is my right to be uncommon … if I can,

I seek opportunity … not security.

I do not wish to be a kept citizen.

Humbled and dulled by having the

State look after me.

I want to take the calculated risk;

To dream and to build.

To fail and to succeed.

I refuse to barter incentive for a dole;

I prefer the challenges of life

To the guaranteed existence;

The thrill of fulfillment

To the stale calm of Utopia.

I will not trade freedom for beneficence

Nor my dignity for a handout

I will never cower before any master

Nor bend to any threat.

It is my heritage to stand erect.

Proud and unafraid;

To think and act for myself,

To enjoy the benefit of my creations

And to face the world boldly and say:

This, with God’s help, I have done.

Don Jans, Author and Speaker www.mygrandchildrensamerica.com

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