Celebrating our nation's independence

Simply Sleight, by Kari Sleight

Parades, picnics, fishing, camping, backyard barbecues and lots of red, white and blue are the most common things that connote Independence Day. In fact, don't forget the Fourth of July Parade and picnic beginning at 2 p.m. today in downtown Wasilla, proudly sponsored by the city of Wasilla and the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce.

It had been a number of years since I last read the Declaration of Independence, and many people I've talked to say they haven't read it since high school. Most people recall the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness the declaration promises, along with all men being created equal, but there is so much more in the words of the document I thought it appropriate to reprint in our pages as we celebrate our nation's birth.

"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.

"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

"But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this let Facts be submitted to a candid world."

The document goes on to list the specific charges against King George III, including refusing to pass laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, imposing taxes without consent, waging war against us, plundering our seas, ravaging our coasts, burning our towns and destroying the lives of our people.

Our forefathers fought long and hard to gain independence from a tyrannical rule, affording us the life we live today. The price of freedom is high, with many paying the ultimate price with their life.

As you enjoy family, food, fun and fireworks today, American and allied troops continue to fight for the freedom of Iraqi people thousands of miles from home. I would like to take this opportunity to ask for just a moment of your time today to say a prayer for the safe return of our troops and offer thanks for their selfless sacrifice in service to our country.

Kari Sleight is the publisher of the Frontiersman newspaper.