An English-owned tea company in India had been losing money, compelling England to levy a tax on tea sold in the colonies. One of the great heroes of the Revolution, Samuel Adams, along with several other Bostonians, dressed as Indians and hurled the India Company Tea cargo into Massachusetts Bay. King George III was livid, but he was stubborn and refused to lift the tax.
Later, in Boston Harbor, as the colonists threw stones and taunted British soldiers, the soldiers fired into the crowd, killing some of the people.
The theme of war was quickly in the air.
My beloved Virginia was the first colony to call for independence, voting to establish a committee to speak for the colonies. They called it the First Continental Congress and they met in September 1774, where members sketched out a record of grievances against England.
The great George Washington, later to become our first president, was given command of the Continental Army, and combat soon broke out in Massachusetts. It was the onset of an eight-year Revolutionary War.
As the war raged on, the men who would come to be known as our Founders gathered in Philadelphia. On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress penned a second draft of the grievances against England. John Hancock, the president of the Second Continental Congress, was the first to sign this document – the Declaration of Independence – his signature outsized and flamboyant so that King George would quickly recognize it.
In total, 56 courageous men placed their signatures on the document.
England saw this declaration as an act of treason, and the 56 men who called for independence from the Crown expected that their very lives were now in harm's way. And they were right. Five of them were later captured by the British, tortured and killed. Nine died in the war. Twelve lost their homes. Two lost their sons in war. All of them paid a heavy toll for their action.
But these men embodied the heartfelt words of Patrick Henry, who said on March 23, 1775, "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
We can never imagine the pain and suffering that came to these men and their families. But they invested in the future of an adored nation and in the future of freedom that we embrace today.
After the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, it was read aloud in public squares, stirring the colonists to celebration and a determined commitment to independence.
One year later, in Philadelphia, our nation celebrated what would become an ongoing tradition – a pre-Independence Day, we might call it, since independence was far from secure. The colonists rang out the bells of the city, and ships in the harbor fired off their great guns.
Firecrackers and candles were lit in the streets. And the people joined together in hope and prayer for a swift end to the war and a foundation for their freedom.
But the wearisome war would carry on until 1783. When independence had finally been secured, many lives had been given for the cause. Those brave colonists had made the ultimate sacrifice that we remember even today. In the year 1783, the colonists celebrated their first official Independence Day.
John Adams, our second president and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, in a letter to his wife wrote: "I believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival ... it ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other. ..."
And so today we do celebrate the courage and valor of the men who secured our freedoms. In this age of rewriting history and ignoring the Judeo-Christian underpinning of our nation, I pray that those who love this nation will never let the truth of our founding die.
This Independence Day, spend a little time with the young people and ensure that they understand what this wonderful day is really all about.
I want to extend an invitation to all Americans within driving distance of the Liberty University campus in Lynchburg, Virginia, to join us Sunday for an all-day old-fashioned Independence Day Celebration (July 3, from 2 p.m.-10 p.m). All carnival rides for the children are free.
Thousands will enjoy family picnics and fellowship from 2 p.m-7 p.m. At 7 p.m., God and Country music by the Old-Time Gospel Hour singers and musicians will begin. Vietnam War hero Marine Lt. Clebe McClary will speak at 9 p.m. The largest fireworks in Central Virginia, called Thunder on the Mountain, will sound off at 10 p.m.
Everyone is invited and everything is free. Come and celebrate America with us Sunday, July 3, on the Liberty University campus and in LU's A.L. Williams Football Stadium.
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