The War for Independence

By the time independence was declared July 4, 1776, colonial Americans had already endured decades of heavy handed British rule. The war actually broke out 14 months prior when 700 British regulars secretly dispatched under cover of darkness to capture colonial arms at Concord. Tensions had been building for years, but it was this military action of April 18, 1775 that triggered Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride -- calling fellow citizens to arms.

The first blood was shed at about 4am the next morning when British soldiers arrived at Lexington Green after an all-night march. It was in this town square, located halfway between Boston and Concord, that some 50 colonials -- farmers, blacksmiths, storekeepers and the like – faced a fully equipped redcoat army. Somebody fired a shot, nobody knows who. A full British volley ensued, followed by a bayonet charge. Overwhelmed, the colonials dispersed, having suffered eight dead and ten wounded. One Brit was wounded.

The powerful British force continued to Concord where they met resistance from the “embattled farmers” of North Bridge. As word spread across the countryside, ordinary folks turned out in droves to aid their neighbors. The British regulars succeeded in destroying the store of colonial munitions, and killed nearly 100 colonists in the process. But by the end of the day an estimated 4,000 patriots took up arms and -- from behind fences, trees, and porches -- peppered the redcoats all the way back to Boston. The British suffered nearly 300 casualties that day, more than three times that of the colonials.

Initially most people saw the conflict as a sort of civil war within the British empire. Colonists still viewed themselves as British citizens struggling for their rights. But all attempts to negotiate for peaceful accords were met with parliament’s iron fist. His subjects’ pleas for compromise fell on the defiant ears of a tyrannical king.

More than a year of vigorous debate and correspondence had passed since the battles at Lexington and Concord. There was no celebration on July 4, 1776 when our founders officially declared Independence. The act committed them to a war for their lives, against their own mother country -- the greatest empire in the world. Can you imagine how that felt?

The terrible Revolutionary War spanned nearly 7 years. By all counts, we should have lost and nearly did. Many say it was only with divine intervention that we prevailed. In 1783 America was finally recognized as a free and independent country. It took another 4 years to hammer out the U.S. Constitution, and 2 more to add the all-important first ten amendments, also known as the Bill of Rights. Every single word of this new supreme “law of the land” was inked to ensure that Americans would never be subject to a bloated, tyrannical government like the one they had just broke away from.

On July 4, 1799, Pastor Cyprian Strong gave an Independence Day warning: “Such is our Constitution, that the security of liberty, property, and every natural right, is left at the election of the people… Our danger arises from sloth and inattention on one hand, and from prejudice and lusts on the other. It is in the power of the people, to have just such men and just such administration as they please. If electors are without information, and will give in their suffrages at random –if they will suffer themselves to be wheedled by designing men and artful demagogues, they may forge their own chains and rivet them.”

Now days I often run into people who are so dejected by our government they won’t even vote, let alone take time to research candidates. Some people even suggest we need another revolution. But the solution truly is much simpler than that. You see, our founders already fought the war for us. They crafted the Constitution and created a form of government that birthed the greatest, most prosperous and generous nation in history. If “we the people” dutifully inform ourselves, choose our leaders wisely, and elect only those committed to upholding the Constitution, I believe we will see a return to the freedom and prosperity that so many of us long for.

When you celebrate the “4th of July”, please honor our founders by reading the Declaration of Independence and reflecting on what Independence Day actually stands for.