As we smear mustard onto shirts meant for hot dogs and reach for that last Heineken by the pool, it’s worth noting how exceptional America’s 242nd birthday is today. Our freedom and peace aren’t normal, statistically speaking. Joseph Tartakovsky points out in The Wall Street Journal, that since 1789 the average life span of national constitutions world-wide has been 19 years, according to scholars at the University of Chicago. The longevity of the United States is an anomaly within the annals of human history. We’re downright lucky–some say blessed–to enjoy our freedom. Today’s the day that Thomas Jefferson told the British monarchy in our Declaration Of Independence that the rigid sovereignty of kings and queens was no longer welcome here. What reigned instead was the people’s ability to pursue our own inherent rights to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Fifty years after Jefferson penned that Declaration, he marked what the “American Experment” meant in a letter to Roger C. Weightman, former mayor of Washington, D.C. Jefferson noted the importance of the festivities around the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of American Independence: [I]n the bold and doubtful election we were to make for our country, between submission or the sword; and to…
See original post: Independence Day: A Chance to ‘Forever Refresh Our Recollections of These Rights’