Independence Day Open Comment Thread
by T Kyle King on Jul 4, 2011 1:00 AM EDT
in God Bless America
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PrintHappy Independence Day! Today marks the 235th anniversary of the day in 1776 on which the United States of America collectively and formally declared their independence from the British crown, which we commemorate with fireworks, parades, and all manner of patriotic displays. To some extent, our selection of July 4 as the date to celebrate is fairly arbitrary; Richard Henry Lee's resolution proclaiming the Colonies' separation from England was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 2, the day John Adams initially believed would be honored by later generations of Americans, and the document declaring American independence, while dated two days later, was not signed for almost another month thereafter. In any case, declaring independence was largely a symbolic act; independence was not actually achieved at least until the battle of Yorktown in 1781, or, arguably, until the Treaty of Paris was signed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and the representative of the British crown on September 3, 1783. That treaty, which acknowledged the former Colonies as sovereign, free, and independent States, was ratified by the United States in January 1784, and by the British the following April. Take your pick regarding the proper date to celebrate, but there are any number of anniversaries with a better claim to being the birthday of our country than the Fourth of July.
Still, just as we have plenty of reason to believe that Jesus was born on a date other than December 25, we nevertheless have chosen a date to commemorate for symbolic purposes, and so it is with Independence Day and July 4. Consequently, we pause this day to honor the courage, dedication, persistence, and principles of our Founding Fathers, recalling always that many different days served---and continue to serve---as milestones in the American saga, but nevertheless paying special attention to this one as the one on which we remember not just those who sacrificed for our country, but those ideals and objectives for which their sacrifices were, and are, made.
God bless America. You may consider this your Independence Day open comment thread, to do with as the spirit moves you.
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Its a great day to be an American
And its sort of self-evident (but worth noting) that we should be extremely thankful to all those past and present that have sacrificed so much for our continued freedom. To those of you in the Dawgsports community that fit this description, you have my heartfelt thanks.
On to lighter fare: I have to wake up in about 5 hours and start the smoker. We have pork ribs and beef ribs. We have Brunswick Stew. We have beans and corn on the cob. We have nondescript light beer to celebrate our American heritage and Johnny Walker Red to celebrate the heritage of my ancestors who decided North Georgia was their God-given destiny. There’ll be Skynyrd, Allman Bros., DBT, and Drivin N Cryin. And there’ll be more than enough explosives to go around.
"If there's one thing worse than chlamydia, it's Florida." ~ Emma Stone
Your day sounds like my day...
with the exception that I got to sleep in because we’re smoking chicken and brats, neither of which takes very long.
Thank you to those among you who have served and continue to serve so that we can enjoy freedom every day. God bless you.
by MaconDawg on Jul 4, 2011 7:20 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Happy Independence Day!
Thank you to all who are currently serving and to all who have served this great nation. We must never forget freedom is not free.
May everyone spend the day in celebration surrounded by loved ones, the smell of meat being cooked by a fire, libation of choice and enough explosives to make it interesting. Unfortunately, my celebration will have to wait until this evening as someone has to make sure our computer network is up and running (working for a resort sometimes has its downside). I assure you I will do my best to make up for lost time and fire up the grill and pop a cold SweetWater as soon as I get home.
MaconDawg and RedCrake – Damn, you guys are doin it right!
Go Dawgs and Go USA!
"Man, is there gonna be some property destroyed tonight." - Larry Munson
Happy Independence Day from the land of former oppresors!
I must admit that I feel awkward and a little guilty for being outside of the United States on this most American of days. I feel even worse considering, I’m in Cambridge, England. Luckily, a few of my American friends and I are getting together to properly celebrate the independence of our great nation. We’re all a hodgepodge of Burners, Bammers, Vols, Rebels, Hawgs, Dawgs, and Bizzaro Bulldogs, but on this day we put all of our differences aside and just coming together as Americans in a foreign land. I’m not sure if it can get much better than that. Go Dawgs, and God Bless America!
Sic 'em Dawgs
Cambridge? Dang.
Were you in Oxford (or Edinburgh, even), I could suggest a moment of reflection on the educations of a few men who lived and died long before 1776, but without whose works, with which our Founding Fathers very obviously were familiar, the course of human events might have been markedly different. Cambridge? I got nothing, although I may be overlooking someone(s).
I don't know how long you'll be in Cambridge...
but if you want some great Chinese food, take the Cambridge Road to Great Shelford. Turn right at Wollard’s Lane. Go about 100 yards and across the street from Boots is Chef Peking. It’s the best Chinese restaurant I’ve ever eaten in all my days. The crispy fried duck is the stuff of dreams. I’m serious.
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
Obligatory post on Independence Day.
What a great country, indeed.
(Yes, I could have made the picture smaller, but I ask you… Why?)
You would have done that if you hated me.
After a day and evening of ribs, chicken, roasted squash and onions, tater salad, beans, both of my sons,fireworks on the back forty and my granddaughter, I’m one worn out, happy old…..
Gator. Happy Independence Day to all and may God bless all of our folks serving in the armed forces. It’s a great day to be an American. It’s also special to be a Southerner.
still the only colonies
To take our independence from the brits instead of it being given. Suck on that Canada, India, Pakistan, Ireland, etc! You can keep your useless extra vowels. Cash this colourful cheque (punches George III).
by Mark Mandingo on Jul 4, 2011 11:35 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
We're directly responsible for the Commonwealth and Dominion status some of those countries experienced
During the lead up to the Revolutionary War, someone in Britain, I forget whom, proposed a type of self-rule meant to appease the Americans. That proposal failed. We fought for and won our independence. And about 70 years later, Dominion status was finally given official recognition in Canada. It was later given to other British colonies like Australia and India. All because they didn’t want to face another colonial uprising that they had with us.
As a further note, Canada didn’t join in the Revolution because at the time, Canada was pretty much just Quebec and Nova Scotia. The Quebecois wouldn’t join in because they kinda liked having their French Civil Law, and the Revolutionaries probably wouldn’t have let them keep that because they thought it was unjust to be denied Common Law. Nova Scotia didn’t join in because it was pretty much just Halifax, and Halifax was a major British military base. So now, Canadians think they’re something special because they didn’t join in, but really, it was only because they were French and a vast frontier under a tight military thumb.
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