Home of the Free...Because of the Brave

Tomorrow marks the Two Hundred and Fortieth anniversary of a grand social experiment. In the late 18th century a group of men came together. Doctors, Lawyers, Tinkers and Cobblers. A great debate raged on about what had never been attempted before.

Independence.

Up to that point countries were ruled by Kings and Nobles who treated their people as serfs and peasants with little say in their own affairs. Indeed, that is how America began, as a colony of Great Britain, ruled by a King who decided the fate of the colonists from far across the ocean.

But in 1776 these men came together to propose the unthinkable. To throw off English rule and strike out on their own. It was a terrifying notion. No colony had broken away from it's mother land and many were fearful of what that country would do in retaliation for their actions. At that point in time the English army was the finest in the world. The Royal navy ruled the seas. America had no standing army, no navy. It had little chance of success.

And yet.......

Two Hundred and Forty years after that momentous decision here we are, the Greatest country on this earth. Along the way we've fought wars, stood up against evil and tyranny, Produced great poets, scientists, and military men. And yet thru it all we've Endured. Secure in our liberty and protected by a document that, while often challenged, still holds firm as  a shining light against the dark.

A Hundred years from now we will still be celebrating the 4th of July. We will still be singing our patriotic songs. We will still be standing and placing a hand over our hearts for 'Old Glory'.  Patriotism isn't dead, it's just not as talked about as much as it used to be.  Another Illinois native said it best. "That Government of the People, By the People and For the People shall not perish from the earth"

And so the Grand experiment goes on........