Independence Forever
One can only imagine the range of emotions present in Independence Hall when the Declaration of Independence was signed. In the classic book, The Light and the Glory, Peter Marshall and David Manuel offer the following account:
“The magnitude of what they had done began to weigh upon them, and they realized that they and their countrymen were no longer Englishmen, but citizens of a fledgling nation barely a few minutes old. Many stared out the window. Some wept openly. Some, like Witherspoon, bowed their heads and closed their eyes in prayer. John Hancock broke the silence: ‘Gentlemen, the price on my head has just been doubled!’
“A wry chuckle followed, and then Samuel Adams rose: ‘We have this day restored the Sovereign, to Whom alone men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and … from the rising to the setting sun, may His Kingdom come.’”(1)
It is ridiculous to suggest that these Founders did not believe God was involved in this endeavor. John Quincy Adams, son of John and Abigail Adams and sixth president of the United States, made the profound statement on the 45th anniversary of the signing, “The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity” (July 4, 1821).(2)
Adams’ belief in this indissoluble bond and God’s destiny for America - taking the gospel of the Kingdom to the ends of the earth - never waned. On America’s 61st birthday, July 4, 1837, he made the following staggering declaration, connecting the birth of our nation to the birth of Jesus Christ:
“Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day? [July 4th]. Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth?” (7/4/1837).(3)
Adams wasn’t equating America’s birth with Christ’s birth; he was saying that America’s birth was for the purpose of announcing Christ’s birth as the Redeemer of humankind. This patriot knew why God raised up America!
The Price of Freedom
The signers of the Declaration of Independence understood the potential cost of their actions. This is why they ended the document with the words: “For the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of the Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”(4)
John Quincy’s dad, John Adams, one of the signers and our second President, spoke of the probable cost to his wife, Abigail: “I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration and support and defend these states. Yet through all the gloom, I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is more than worth all the means.”(5)
Signer Lewis Morris’ half-brother tried to dissuade him from signing the Declaration, warning him of the potential cost. Morris’s eloquent response? “Damn the consequences. Give me the pen!”(6) I’ve often wondered if General George Patton was one of his descendants!
Signer Sam Adams, mentioned above, was a second cousin to John Adams, a distant uncle to John Quincy, and a key voice of liberty. Thomas Jefferson referred to him as “the patriarch of liberty;” Boston newspapers eulogized him as “the Father of the American Revolution.” (The Adam‘s clan was certainly a bunch of freedom-loving warriors!) Speaking of the possible cost of freedom and declaring where he had placed his trust Sam Adams said: “We have proclaimed to the world our determination ‘to die freemen, rather than to live slaves.’ We have appealed to heaven for the justice of our cause, and in Heaven, we have placed our trust.”(7)
Cousin John was such a passionate pioneer of liberty that Jefferson referred to him as a “colossus of independence.” Though John Adams and Jefferson didn't always see eye-to-eye, their passion for America enabled them to put aside their differences, and they died as close friends—on the same day!(8)
Most people are unaware that Adams and Jefferson, in an incredible phenomenon that could have only been caused by Providence, both died on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1826. Incredibly, God honored their love for America by allowing them to live until that landmark day. Their passion to see the survival of this “holy experiment,” as many described America at that time, and God‘s divine favor kept them alive until this milestone was reached. Adams, too weak to attend the national Fourth of July celebration, asked to be seated in a chair by his window in order to watch the festivities. While there, while watching the celebration, he drifted into unconsciousness and died later that night. Two of his last words before he graduated to Heaven were, “Independence forever.”(9)
Passionate in life; passionate in death.
When the Declaration of Independence was signed, Adams said it “will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever.”(10)
And so it is. As we celebrate this monumental day, the 249th birthday of America, I leave you with the words of Founding Father Joseph Warren, quoted by Ronald Reagan in his First Inaugural Address. Reagan shared:
“On the eve of our struggle for independence, a man who might have been one of the greatest among the Founding Fathers, Dr. Joseph Warren, President of the Massachusetts Congress, said to his fellow Americans, ‘Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of.... On you depend the fortunes of America. You are to decide the important questions upon which rest the happiness and the liberty of millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves.’”(11)
Reagan continued, “Well, I believe we, the Americans of today, are ready to act worthy of ourselves, ready to do what must be done to ensure happiness and liberty for ourselves, our children, and our children’s children.
“And as we renew ourselves here in our own land, we will be seen as having greater strength throughout the world. We will again be the exemplar of freedom and a beacon of hope for those who do not now have freedom…”(12)
Happy Independence Day!
Pray with me:
Father, we Americans give thanks for our freedom. We are an immeasurably blessed people. Thousands of our brothers and sisters around the world who read these posts understand how blessed we are, perhaps better than most Americans. We pray today for the courage to “act worthy of” this blessing and of our holy calling (Ephesians 4:1).
Give us hearts of iron, nerves of steel, and holy zeal. Fill us with fresh resolve to make our heavenward appeals, to answer destiny’s call. Give us hearts that bow low, but dream high. Make us the Joshuas and Calebs, the Adams and Reagans of our time, fearless in the face of demons and of those who war against Your planned harvest.
May this be Your Ekklesia’s finest hour, Your Kingdom’s greatest advance on planet earth. We will represent our great Redeemer until we can say with our brother, Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7 NASB). And in our great Redeemer’s name, Jesus, we pray, amen.
Our decree:
We decree that the purpose of God for America will not be lost – not on our watch.
Click on the link below to watch the full video.
Peter Marshall and David Manuel, The Light and the Glory (Tarrytown, NY: Fleming H. Revell Company), p. 309.
William Federer, America’s God and Country, FAME Publishing Inc., 1994, p. 18.
Ibid.
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/GO/GO00/20220929/115171/HHRG-117-GO00-20220929-SD010.pdf
Bennett, William J. Our sacred honor: Words of advice from the Founders in stories, letters, poems, and speeches. (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1997), p. 40.
https://yalealumnimagazine.org/blog_posts/1831-damn-the-consequences-give-me-the-pen
http://www.samuel-adams-heritage.com/documents/speech-about-declaration-of-independence.html
William Federer, America’s God and Country, p. 14.
Ibid., pp. 8-9.
Ibid., p. 9.
Ibid.