Colin McNickle At Large

America at 246: Let us resolve …

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Happy 246th birthday, America!

We once again commend for your thoughtful review a classic retelling of the moment of America’s separation from England, from historian and Pittsburgh native David McCullough’s book, “1776”:

“In Philadelphia, the same day as the British landing on Staten Island, July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress, in a momentous decision, voted to ‘dissolve the connection’ with Great Britain. The news reached New York four days later, on July 6, and at once spontaneous celebrations broke out. ‘The whole choir of our officers went to a public house to testify our joy at the happy news of Independence. We spent the afternoon merrily,’ recorded Isaac Bangs.

“A letter from John Hancock to [George] Washington, as well as the complete text of the Declaration [of Independence], followed two days later:

“‘That our affairs may take a more favorable turn,’ Hancock wrote, ‘the Congress have judged it necessary to dissolve the connection between Great Britain and the American colonies, and to declare them free and independent states; as you will perceive by the enclosed Declaration, which I am directed to transmit to you, and to request you will have it proclaimed as the head of the army in the way you shall think most proper.’

“Many, like Henry Knox, saw at once that with the enemy massing for battle so close at hand and independence at last declared by Congress, the war had entered an entirely new stage. The lines were drawn now as never before, the stakes far higher. ‘The eyes of all America are upon us,’ Knox wrote. ‘As we play our part posterity will bless or curse us.’

“By renouncing their allegiance to the King, the delegates at Philadelphia had committed treason and embarked on a course from which there could be no turning back.

“‘We are in the very midst of a revolution,’ wrote John Adams, ‘the most complete, unexpected and remarkable of any in the history of nations.’” …

“(F)rom this point on, the citizen-soldiers of Washington’s army were no longer to be fighting only for the defense of their country, or for their rightful liberties as freeborn Englishmen, as they had at Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill and through the long siege at Boston. It was now a proudly proclaimed, all-out war for an independent America, a new America, and thus a new day of freedom and equality.”

We won that war, of course. But the war for our independence – and liberty — continues to this day.

Our leaders too often have rationalized our liberties and promulgated rules, regulations and laws that instead promote our dependence. Conscription of wealth and its transfer to others is promoted, recklessly, as “progress.” It is nothing but servitude.

America’s essence is whittled away with each excuse made, each liberty forfeited in the name of “safety” and “security,” each dollar robbed and the Founders’ precepts and Framers’ proscriptions ignored.

So, let us resolve anew on this Independence Day 2022 to rededicate ourselves to this nation’s founding proposition. For we are not subjects. “We” are the government.

And We the People must restake our claim — and reclaim our stake in independence.

Happy Independence Day, every one of us.

Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).

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Colin McNickle
Colin McNickle

Colin received his B.G.S. from Ohio University. The 40-year journalism veteran joined the Institute in October 2016. That followed a 22-year career with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 18 as director of editorial pages for Trib Total Media. Prior that, Colin had a long and varied career in media — from radio, newspapers and magazines, to United Press International and The Associated Press.

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