DaveInDaytona
Pro
Posts: 1696
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posted July 03, 2002 05:33 PM
Happy Independence Day
If you have a chance to take a break from the BBQ and picnics and are up for some light reading, here's the document that started it all.
Have a safe holiday,
Dave
The Declaration of Independence:
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IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
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The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in the positions indicated:
Column 1
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
Column 2
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton
Column 3
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
Column 4
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean
Column 5
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark
Column 6
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton
   
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sassyvanilla
Needs a job
Moderator 2002
Posts: 3587
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posted July 03, 2002 06:10 PM
 Edited By: sassyvanilla on 3 Jul 2002 19:11
HAPPY CANADA DAY....EH!
That was great......have a nice day tomorrow....may it be safe and festive!
Here'S to Sir John A McDonald!!!! EH!!!
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DaveInDaytona
Pro
Posts: 1696
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posted July 03, 2002 06:50 PM
Happy Canada Day
Sorry I missed that one, just like us to do something like that.
The year 2002 marks the 135th celebration of Canada Day, which commemorates the day that Canada became a nation. The holiday is observed on July 1 (unless that date falls on a Sunday, in which case Canada Day is observed the following day).
On July 1, 1867, the British North America Act united the British colonies of Upper Canada, Lower Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia into "one dominion under the name of Canada." These four colonies became Canada's first four provinces; Lower Canada was renamed Quebec, and Upper Canada was renamed Ontario.
The July 1 holiday was known as Dominion Day until October 27, 1982, when an act of parliament established the name Canada Day. The new name symbolized a step away from Canada's colonial past. The holiday had also sometimes been known as First of July or Confederation Day. Like Fourth of July festivities in the United States, Canada Day is celebrated with such summer pleasures as picnics, barbeques, and fireworks.
The name Canada derives from an Iroquoian word for "village," kanata, that French explorers heard used to refer to the area near present-day Quebec City. Today, Canada comprises ten provinces and three territories.
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Zhooligan
Moderator
Post Whore Extraordinaire!
Posts: 3829
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posted July 03, 2002 07:18 PM
Dave your bad for the motorcyclist image. We are all susposed to be a bunch of idiots!
Seriously thanks for taking the time to remind us why we really celebrate the fourth.
____________
To those who do not count their life in years, but in how life
has touched them in the past and how much it can hold in the
future; -- Youth is forever.
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slug
Pro
Out in search of my mind...
Posts: 1433
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posted July 03, 2002 07:21 PM
thank you for that dave, it is good that we should re-read what started out the long process that ended in our freedom.
thank a service-member, they continue to deal with the garbage and keep us as a people from having to do so on daily basis. those who have never done a stint in the armed services, be doubly thankful, you really have NO idea what sorts of things these people endure.
to those who have fought, do fight, and will fight for our way of life, thanks. good job.
  
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Backfire
Parking Attendant
Posts: 18
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posted July 03, 2002 07:52 PM
Someone has too much time on their hands. Could it be it's still raining?
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DaveInDaytona
Pro
Posts: 1696
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posted July 03, 2002 08:06 PM
Go make some steel.
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Wildman
Expert Class
I only look confused
Posts: 318
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posted July 04, 2002 07:31 AM
Down with the King!
____________
If you build something Idiot Proof, The world will build a better Idiot.
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redelk
Moderator
Please... speak to the hand.
Posts: 3212
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posted July 04, 2002 11:19 AM
Edited By: redelk on 4 Jul 2002 12:20
I would like to thank... :humble icon:
1. My Higher Power who has blessed me with the chance to live in the greatest country, even with all it's short comings, on this planet.
2. The men and women, who for over the the past 226+ years, worked, fought and even died, both here and abroad, for ALL the things I and my family enjoy today.
3. Those that DISAGREE with my views and those that share them with me. For if it was not for the freedom to disagree, we would not be where we are today.
The are two great things that comes from the freedom to debate. I can become further educated, thus changing my opinion or I can become stroger in my resolve to educate the ignorant and change THEIR view. This is what our First Amendment is about.
Thank God we have the Second Amendment to protect the First and all the Amendments follow.
As long as we hold the above document close to our minds and hearts, EVERY DAY will be Independence Day.
Thank You, Dave!
____________
There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.
-Ernest Hemingway
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Backfire
Parking Attendant
Posts: 18
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posted July 04, 2002 03:32 PM
4,270 tons made on my shift
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sassyvanilla
Needs a job
Moderator 2002
Posts: 3587
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posted July 06, 2002 10:23 PM
Nice work....
I am glad to see you did some home work.
Your like a regular history book!
There is nothing like having a birthday in July....right Dave! Happy Birthday to you too!
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DaveInDaytona
Pro
Posts: 1696
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posted July 08, 2002 08:08 AM
July birthdays are good, thanks SV.
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Ballisticzx12r
Zone Head
& Deals Gap Board Member
Posts: 940
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posted July 08, 2002 02:48 PM
Thank You Dave
Dave,
Thank you for posting that, it is something we sould reflect on.
Bart
____________
Be fast and Be safe
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