America’s
go-to-hell letter
The
Declaration of Independence lies encased under inches of light-filtering
green glass in a climate controlled vault at the Smithsonian Institute in
Washington, D.C.
It’s a
fragile document on parchment speckled with age. It’s amazing the old
document wasn’t destroyed long ago by the explosive words laid upon it.
It is
history’s most eloquent go-to-hell letter, a litany of murderous
mistreatment. Its words were lofty, but its message from the American
Colonies to Great Britain was simple.
If written
today, the Declaration might read something like this:
Dear
King George III,
You’ve
used us, abused us, trashed our laws, dismissed our legislators, stolen
our jobs, corrupted our judges, taxed us unfairly, burned our homes and
lands, deprived us of fair trials, made us slaves and sent your armies
to kill us.
You
have taken us for granted and clearly hate us.
You’re
a cruel man. You have a lying, cheating heart¾ if you have any heart at
all¾ and are unworthy to be the head of a civilized nation.
We’ve
had it with you.
You’re
fired. Get lost. We quit. We’re forming our own nation. We think we’re
all equal and should be free.
If you
don’t like it, come and get us.
Signed,
John Hancock and 55 others
It was a
dare the king and Britain couldn’t ignore.
No wonder
Benjamin Franklin said at the signing, "We must all hang together, or
assuredly we shall all hang separately."
Franklin
wasn’t talking about hanging out at the mall. If America had not
prevailed in the Revolutionary War that ensued, the signers would have
been hung by the neck until dead.
It’s a
sobering thought. As the parade marches by in Hailey today and throngs of
people pursue happiness—or just a good hot dog—it’s one everyone
should consider.
Let’s not
forget the audacity and daring of the Declaration of Independence. Let’s
honor freedom by not taking it for granted.