The Closet Professor

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness…

In the United States, the Fourth of July commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States of America. The Second Continental Congress declared that the Thirteen Colonies were no longer subject to the tyranny of British rule under King George III and were now united, free, and independent states.

Resistance to British rule began in 1765 with Parliament’s passage of the Stamp Act that became a catalyst for a group colonists to convene the Stamp Act Congress to articulate a response. Its “Declaration of Rights and Grievances” argued that taxation without representation violated their rights as Englishmen.

In 1767, tensions increased following the British Parliament’s passage of the Townshend Acts, a group of new taxes and regulations imposed on the thirteen colonies. In an effort to quell the mounting rebellion in the colonies, which was particularly severe in Massachusetts Bay Colony, King George III deployed troops to Boston. An  altercation with these British troops resulted in the killing of five protesters in what became known as the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770.

Tensions continued to rise with further taxes imposed on the colonists by Parliament resulting in various protests and boycotts, such as the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773. In 1775, King George III declared the Massachusetts Bay Colony to be in a state of open defiance and rebellion. In April 1775, the first battles at Lexington and Concord resulted in the first major military campaign of the American Revolution.

In July 1776, the Second Continental Congress denounced King George III as a tyrant who trampled the colonists’ rights as Englishmen, passed the Lee Resolution for national independence on July 2, and on July 4, 1776, adopted the Declaration of Independence, which embodied the political philosophies of liberalism and republicanism, rejected monarchy and aristocracy, and famously proclaimed that “all men are created equal.”

From that point on, men and women of the United States have fought and died to resist tyranny and authoritarianism. While the Declaration of Independence stated that “all men are created equal,” the United States have not always lived up to those ideals, but in each subsequent generation, Americans have worked towards making all men and women equal.

Sadly, the Republican Party has veered away from freedom into the realm of authoritarian rule. Because they have become the minority party in the United States, they have tried to curtail the rights of Americans in an effort to solidify their power under an oligarchy of the rich who have systematically begun brainwashing Americans with news media such as Fox News and Newsmax, bought Supreme Court justices and members of Congress, and have solidified seemingly wholeheartedly behind a bombastic buffoon who seems only able to spout lies and grievances.

We must continue to fight tyranny, oppression, discrimination, and authoritarianism at every turn. We cannot become complacent and allow wealth, greed, and hatred rule this nation. Furthermore, for all the people calling for President Biden to step aside and allow the Democrats to choose another nominee need to realize that it’s too late for a course correction and must consolidate behind Biden’s reelection campaign. If they change course now, I firmly believe it will irreparably damage any hopes of the presidency or Democratic gains in Congress. We have to support Biden with the same fervor as Republicans are supporting Trump.

It’s too late to change our minds now, but it needs to be a lesson that we need younger leadership in this country. Generation X needs to step up and replace the aging Baby Boomers. We need to learn our lesson. We will not be able to progress as a nation and continue to resist tyranny, if we don’t look to younger generations. We need to work to be a nation where all people are created and treated as equals.

LGBTQ+ Americans are especially at risk of losing hard fought gains for equality. Conservatives in this country are intensifying their plans to dismantle the framework that guarantees our freedoms.  They are advocating to infuse the government with elements of their warped version of Christianity. They want to criminalize pornography, remove legal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and terminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

In this Independence Day, we need to think about what freedom means to us. Is it the freedom to think for ourselves, be equal, and rejoice in our freedoms, or is it freedom from thinking independently, allowing for legally sanctioned inequality, and the celebration of tyranny. Do you want democracy or tyranny? It’s a simple choice. We must choose freedom!

Happy Independence Day, America! Let’s truly be the “land of the free and the brave.”