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/ THE AMERICAN UWON.
WEST BGWERSVILLE, GA.,
January 3, 1885.
W. F. BOWERS. EDITOR
FOURTH OF JULY, 1776.
V
Over one hundred years ago, this
country belonged to England and
was governed by a King, but the
people did not like his laws, his
troops or his government, they wan¬
ted to be free and they thought they
were old enough and wise enough to
govern themselves, and to have a
government of their own. They
had been ground down and tramp
led on until they seemed to have no
wills of their own, but they had, and
they soon showed they would sub
mit no" longer.
From Virginia, freedom may be
said to have started, for the Legisla
ture recommended Congress to de
clare the colonies no longer obliged
to be subjects of George III, on the
English throne. On the 7th of
Juue. 1776; Richard Henry Lee said
- that the United Colonies ought to
ne
Free and independent states.
Jefferson, Franklin and Livingston
were appointed a committee to draft
a Declaration of Independence.
History tells us that Jefferson—who
was afterward our second Vice Pres
ident and our third President—was
chairman, aud prepared that impor
taut document; and if you have ever
read it or heard it read—as every
American boy and girl should—you
know how well he did his work.
And we are told that ‘-it was report
ed to Congress, and after beeng dis
cussed seven days and slightly amen
ded, was adopted at two o’clock on
the
YOUTH OF JULY, 1776,
There, that is what I call the gen
ui ne^origipfrl. Simon Pure Fou rth of
July. Novi’ let me tell.ycHrhow the
news was received and how it was
celebrated. People flocked to Phila
dolphia aud a great deal of anxiety
was felt among the citizens, and ex.
citemeut was at fever heat. This
was before the glad tidings reached
them, and before they knew whether
King Georye would continue to rule
them or they were to strive to be
free and independent. It would all
depend upon the decision of Con
gress. This decision—if^favorable—
was to be announced bjp the ringing
of the bell up in the old belfry; and
tor that purpose, the bell ringer, an
old man took his post in the steeple
a: a very early hour so as to peel
forth the first jubilant tones of Free
dom; his boy be had stationed to
him the notice of the event he
felt so sure would happen. The
old man must have grown impatient
at the long delay, and he may have
thought his boy had grown tired and
gone away. But no, the old man
kept his post, and the boy did not
desert his. At last, came the clear
notes from the boy—as clear as they
could throdfBdii*- excitement:
ringI’ris'gI
And. the old man did ring as he nev
er did before. Oh, how cheering did
those tones sonned to the ears of the
citizens. It is said that many of the
nu>8t steady and sober citizens hug
ged and kissed each other, and wept
tears of joy. It was as if morning
hadj come after a long dark night,
and why not; were not the thirteen
c)onie8 to be henceforth known as,
the thirteen
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?
We have added quite a number to
the original thirteen, haven't we? I
wonder how many of Uncle Peter's
« nmerous nephews and nieces can tell
which the original thirteen where,
and how many States we have now,
and their names?
HOW THE FIRST FOURTH
WAS CELEBRATED.
Of course, the news carried joy
almost everywhere, to the ones who
were bound to be free and equal, but
not to tl\e “Tories” as the adherents
of thqjKjng were called. Washing¬
ton—who was then Head of the Army
received a copy of the document and
caused the troops to be paraded
and the Declaration to be read to
each brigade, who received the news
with deafening cheers.
In New York there were a statue
of George III, made of lead, and thi 8
figure was pulled down from its pe¬
destal and I will tell you what after
wrads became of it. It was after¬
wards moulded into Republican
bullets.]
In Philadelphia there were illumi
nations and bonfires and music and
cheering, and I don’t know what
else, and the people tore down the
King’s arms from the Court House,
as the New Yofkers had his statue
and burned them in the streets,.
How much they must have loved
Liberty, and now they must have
HATED KING GEORGE.
In Boston the excitement was as
great as iu other places I have
named, for there “the Declaration
was publicly read in Faneuil Hall,
amid the acclamations of assembled
housands,” and a "very appropriate
place for it to be read, for you may
be well aware that that Hall has
qeen well styled the “Cradle of Lib¬
erty,” where the infant Freedom was
rocked: but principally James Otis, given called that
namebecauBe the
‘Apostle of Freedom,’ delivered a
speech there in March 1763, at its
dedication.
A greater number of you cau re
member the Centennial of 1876, and
what celebrations there were in hon
or of the one hnndreth anniversary
of the signing of the Declaration of
Independence. Few there were liv
ing then who participated and when in the or
iginal Fourth, the second
centennial celebration takes place in
1976, it is tot lines, likely many of you,
who read these will be able to
participate in that, as it will be
nearly one hundred years from now,
and you would be quite old men and
ladies by that time.
But enjoy all the Fourths you
can and as many as you can. It is a
great you4ead Natioad History holiday, and aw?, $?he inci the
more
dents 'connected with that day, the
more you will appreciate its worth.
If you ever go State to Philadelphia House you
will see the old where
the boy of ‘76 shouted Ring Ring!’
and where the old man pealed forth
the notes of ‘Freedom from Oppress
ion.
jf mm
•’ /At'
Intelligence
And
: ; Virtue
Our Republic,
While the discovery of the Western
World (as it is sometimes termed] dates
back some four hundred years; yet the first
effectual effort to colonize that part of the
Western Hemisphere included in the limit
of the United States has not quite been three
hundred years it being in the commence,
ment of the sevenenenthh century. In the
year 1607 a small colony was Sited out by
authority of the English government for the
purpose of exploring and locating interest
in tftat section, now included in the Uni¬
ted States. In the state of Virginia this
colony was located. They found a position
some fifty miles from the sea coast on wbat
they called James River, in honor of their
king' They also called the town first built
by them by the same name, that is, James
town. From that time (May, 1007) the
original adventurers to this country, had a
very serious time for many long year* *
After the Jamestown settlement, other
localities were occupied by emigrants from
over the sea. New Fork and the New
Englad states’ also the Carolines & Q1
gia. Some unfortunate steps were take!
the colonies enlarged, and the inhabit!
increased. We ar* informed that the!
sent over some 100 or more convict 3 orn
nals, who were employed as labore®
certain citizens who were engaging in 1
culture of the Tobacco plant, particulJ
in the state of Virginia. Also about i
time 20 Africans were purchased by Th! ^
people as slaves from a Dutch vessel.
were the first ever introduced among
English settlements.
History tells us that colony after coloffl
was established until thirteen colouies
butlt up, known as the thiiteen staflj
originally. The tiials and struggles
these colonies for a long series ofyears ti®
der the oppression of their mother count^|
finally gave rise to the effectual inve®
tigalion of the subject of human LihenH
and Unman rights. The result ot this
ligation was tuat our lathers were ena^H
to have higher conceptions and a^H
extended knowledge of human l.ib.fl
human government and human rgiit.®®®
perhaps ouy people upon earth, who h \.fj§§
investigated and reached decisions
mind on these lofty thems. After they h.H
become established in their minds on the®
grand questions, then the great inquiry w.-H
what will be the most avalable policy ol
our part to put us as a people [politically] i®
such position as will be most congenial un®
compatible with our highest and grand*®
interest, both religiously aud politically®
After they had employed every means, an®
exhausted their efforts in seeking redreHl
for multiplied rungs endured, they wer®
theu driven to the last resort, which wn9j|
declaration of their Independence as a pet®
pie. Then followed, what has since bee®
called, the Rkvolctiosaiiy Wak.
After seven years of bloody strife, ti^B
people of these Un ted Colonies snccee'ile^
in the grand achievement of their declared i
Independence. Then the great question
wa3 what course will we take in order no } i
to abuse the Independenc] and liberty weii
have gained. They no doubt realised the®
responsibility that was upon them. They®
felt that the destiny of the nation in its®
progress and iti its results was then resting®
on tneir shoulders. And not only the des-®
tiny of their own country, but that of thel
other nations of Earth was to bo effected bij
the course pursued by the people ofJ®
United States. jf"
Then year after year bl®
peop'e earnestly seeking Jr®
ject of the basis of the Unix®
succeeded in framing a .V]H
tion, the same being submitted al
jfied by the people, became the compact®
the nation, and the organic law by wbicl®
the people of^thc United States were to b®
governed. This law in the verry nature o®
things, requires the allegiance of the peoplfl
dne first, to the general government, as i®
was by virtue of the power growing out o'■
the Uuiou ot the States, that the great ene'fl
my of our country was conquered, and the®
blessings of Liberty and good governments
were vouchsaled to every citizen ot our Ke- s
public. ,1
But while the Consti'ution of the U. S. jl
is supreme, and rightfully claims our first®
allegiance to the general government, yet®
there is no provision or requisition in the®
organic law of the nation which is ineom-l
patible with any interest whatever ot the®
states of the Union, or the eitiz, ns of®|
states. We see in the history h|® o^yjfl
ted States, there have ever
:o overcome from the time o:H
tlement of the Little colony H .,j
river at Jamestown in itlij? ® J
cation of the Con.-titmion 3
States, several years alter I
Great Britton.
When these colonies were®
sometimes did seem to pros™
then seemingly they would a
away. Oft times troubled by]
often by disease, and sometfmj
among themselves. The rol
them and their mother couutr
volved the greatast dificulty ol
connected with their existenct®
od; and to add to the seril
dificulty there was dissension!®
selves. Notwithstanding all ®
they fiually reeolved to to cifl
England and risk the constqtao
comes the gteatest dificulty |
they had ever met. > A seven!
and that which added no little?
terror was unprincipled men anJ
among themselves. But notwitb
these dificulties the people persevered
emigrating and replenishing the countv
till the original thirteeo'states were popv
luted sufieiently to look after and take ctH
of tbeir interest as colonies, After t
VI
people bad passed through this stage of tfc!
existence, new dificulties and obsticles 1- I
before them. Their agricultural inter® (
were to look^after; their edncatonal; ibeil