The Monmouth inquirer. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1865-1933, 1926-06-10

4 - July 4, 1776, has meant much
m NJ than the growth and devel-
MI m opment of an Independent nation
M on this side Of the Atlantic
~ III With 1925 there began a series
/ e. ~ which continues to command the
attention of the world They
mark the beginning of the United States of Amer
lea Americans are interested.
For world history. as well American history,
was made at Lexington and Concord April 10,
1775; at Cambridge July 8, 1775; at Philadelphia
July 4, 1776; at Vincennes February 25 1873; at
Yorktown October 9, 1881 at Paris September 8,
1888
Born in those fatefu nine years of revolution,
our nation today, after 100 years of perseverance
and progress, is the most favored on earth the
most powerful, the wealthiest
So much has been taken here as matter Of
course that it seems hard to realize that this
anniversary is celebrated in the very England
from which liberty was wrested, and that observ-
ances of it are officially ordered in many lands
beyond the seas The Fourth of July has become
international in scope, for it has changed the gov
ernments of nations whose capitals are far from
Independence hall
Had not the ideas of government held by the
colonsts been essentially British there would prob
ably never have been any Declaration of hide
pendence. 1t is as natural for the Briton to
demand his rights as it is for him to live The
war of the Revolution was largely due to the
fact that the three thousand miles of water be-
tween London and the colonies caused parliament
to lose sight of the ties of consanguinity and of
race.
Although the original thirteen colonies were so
essentially English in thought and feeling they had
never actually been established by England as a
national enterprise. The only one which had
ever received any official aid whatever was
Georgia, and that was not sufficient to carry any
c1Ioh oOfao aIas,oo
preservation Of intimate colonial relations The
right to colonize the North American continent
had been granted by charters from British king
According to the feudal system, which was then
rapidly becoming effaced, the king owned all the
land ard distributed 1t among various favored
vassals
The sovereign in the same way regarded the
New World If it had been won by the sword
The most extravagant ideas prevailed with regard
to the wealth Of the American lands 1t was at
one time sobery believed In England that gold
and silver and precious stones could be had for
the taking and that the natives were the pos
SCISSORS of fabulous wealth The king gave the
charters in most cases with the idea that he
would profit greatly from mines which would
yield enormous returns to the royal exchequer.
When the colonists came here they found 1t
necessary to make good their titles either by
peaceful bargains with the Indians or BY force
Of arms From the very first the spirit of indie
pendence was fostered, for iefs which had to be
maintained by constant vigilance and negotiations
and by show of force did not carry with them a
deep sense of obligation. Indeed, even at that
early day although for the throne the colonists
entertained feelings Of loyalty and devotion,
shrewd idea was abroad that the king did not
really own the land which he had bestowed by
his charter. The conquest of nature and of the
savages begot a rugged Independence which as
the years went by became more and more dis
tasteful to the authorities in England.
Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, offered the
Independence resolution in June, 1910, and d COM
mittee was appointed to draft the Declaration,
consisting Of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams,
Benjamin Franklin. Roger Sherman and Robert
Livingston. Jefferson wrote the document, and
alterations were made principally at the sugges-
ton of Franklin and Adams. The paper was
submitted to congress June %. It was laid
on the table until July /. when nine colonies
voted in favor Of 1t.