A holiday tip: Think about what we hold to be self-evident

One of the marvelous things about the Fourth of July holiday is that it can be so many things to so many different people.

Like the cartoon on this page, or the competing columns on the page opposite this one, Americans are free to see America in different lights.

We can even disagree on such key phrases of the Declaration of Independence as “all men are created equal.” Certainly the signers disagreed 236 years ago. The declaration did not give freedom to American slaves, nor did it give the right to vote to women. But eventually, the United States of America would come to grips with those shortcomings, because the signing of the Declaration of Independence on this date in 1776 and the events that would follow gave America the potential to be more, even, than it was.

The groundwork for realizing the potential of the phrases that still reverberate was laid after the war for independence was won and the Constitution was ratified in 1787, followed by the Bill of Rights four years later.

Thomas Jefferson wrote: “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.”

The Constitution gave the American people the tools they needed to make Jefferson’s vision a reality.

Source of strength

Much of America’s strength can be traced to its history as a nation of immigrants. People chose to come here and they came here expecting something better than what they left behind. And if it wasn’t all they had expected, they worked to make it better.

And when their descendants heard that there was more opportunity to the West or the South or the North, millions drew on the fortitude of their forefathers and followed the call.

That spirit of adventure has served America well, by and large. It saved civilization as we know it during World War II and then helped rebuilt an industrialized world that redefined prosperity.

That there have been missteps should shock no one. Perfection was the premise of the declaration that we celebrate today, not the promise.

It’s up to all of us to continue to work toward the promise. It helps if on this date every year if we take a few minutes away from parades, picnics and fireworks to think about what truths we believe to be self-evident. And then think about what we’re doing or are willing to do to make those truths a reality.

That’s our American heritage.