As has become my yearly tradition on July 4th, I read through the Declaration of Independence today just to remind myself of the significance of the occasion. Here's the text of the document off Wikisource for those interested.
It's amazing that Thomas Jefferson was only 33 when he wrote this in 1776. He wrote the first draft in a day or two in parallel to several other projects he was working on; quite astonishing, but he was apparently a gifted writer of public documents so they put the task in the right hands. I learned today, though, that much of the text of the document was in fact borrowed. Many of the famous lines were Jefferson's own creation, including the concluding line "we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor." But much of it was adapted from state level declarations of independence, most notably the Virginia Declaration of Rights. For instance, the pre-amble which included the famous "all men are created equal" line, was adapted from the Virginia drafts of George Mason. And that document was in fact an adaptation of a much earlier British document from 1689, the English Declaration of Rights.
I think a lot of people believe that due to our youth that the United States is devoid of a tradition and culture that is uniquely our own. I'd argue the opposite, though, with the Declaration of Independence being a prime example. Our deeply rooted tradition is simply that we're willing to both respect and break from our traditions - to improve and innovate - when it's common sense to do so. I can't imagine living any other way.
Happy 4th of July!
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