RALLY ROUND OUR NATION

Independence Day is a day that is sacred to all Americans. It is a testimony to our hard earned freedoms. When our founding fathers put pen to paper composing the Bill of Rights, they were committing acts of treason punishable by death. Why did a small colony face the might of the British Empire? Because they believed their cause was just and right. Here are a few statements made by past presidents.

George Washington, on the symbolism of our nation’s flag said, “We take the stars from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her.”

When civil war threatened to tear our country asunder, Abraham Lincoln stated, “Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt first came to office in the depths of the depression yet he still gave America hope. “We do not distrust the future of essential democracy. The people of the United States have not failed.” After Pearl Harbor he said, “Yesterday, December 7, 1941, is a date which will live in infamy. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory.”

Ronald Reagan was firm in his beliefs. “Behind me stands a wall that encircles the free sectors of this city. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union, come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

After the attacks of 9/11, George W. Bush stated, “Today, our very freedom came under attack. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. America was targeted because we are the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world.”