The Independence Day Page

The meaning of independence
Joseph Farah asserts American 'colonists' less free now than in 1776.
First thoughts . . . on freedom's birthday
At our great national birthday party, let us think with more than ordinary attention about independence, and about freedom, and about the demise of tyranny.
By William Murchison
Spirit of '76
You would think they couldn't have had less in common, the New England patrician of Colonial and Revolutionary times who would see an infant republic into the world, and the immigrant girl who would sign up to nurse that republic's soldiers in a later generation. But to read their letters is to be struck by the spirit they shared.
By Paul Greenberg
At home, Americans remain fiercely patriotic
Americans are intensely patriotic this July Fourth, focused on flag and country.
By Jennifer Harper
The Better Angels of Our Republic...
As he was departing the office of the presidency in 1989, Reagan asked a question we will repeat: "How stands the city...?" On this, its 228th birthday, the shining city is again "in danger, but not to be despaired of."
by Mark Alexander
Independence from England, Dependence on Washington?
As we celebrate the Fourth of July, we might consider what our Founders would think of present-day America. Would they find the ideal of a servant government intact? Would they see a society that abides by the principles established in the Constitution?
by Rep. Ron Paul
Why the Left Hates the Declaration of Independence
Since I was six years old, a poster of the Declaration of Independence has hung on my bedroom wall. That’s one reason why I turned out to be a young conservative. But I don’t suppose many Leftists have posters of the Declaration of Independence hanging in their homes and workplaces. They’ve managed to take it out of the schools too. It seems the Left would rather burn it.
By Hans Zeiger
The Fourth of July
Why do we celebrate the Fourth of July? After all, we are taught from kindergarten to the universities that all cultures are entitled to equal respect. Why then celebrate the creation of a nation that is no better than any other nation?
by Thomas Sowell
Educate citizens in Constitution
Kyle Williams tells why changing America requires rebuilding knowledge of Founding principles.
Paine's Prophetic Dream
Like everything else socialist, today's schools and history books deny at every turn the religious nature of America's Founding Fathers and the inspiration these great men felt for the cause of liberty.
by Steve Farrell
Putting the 'in' back in 'independence'
Doug Powers thinks another revolution may be necessary.
Put the "independence" back in Independence Day: The forgotten meaning of America
Independence Day isn't just a holiday, writes Michael S. Berliner, it represents the meaning of the United States.
The Declaration philosophy - Part I
The origins of rights: Linda A. Prussen-Razzano explores the inherent philosophy behind the Declaration of Independence in the first part of a series.
The Declaration Philosophy - Part II
The nature of rights: Linda A. Prussen-Razzano continues her look at the philosophy behind the Declaration of Independence with the second in a series of essays.
Celebrating freedom in vain
Trent Pepper warns U.S. about forgetting the founders.
George Mason and Patrick Henry: Prophets Among the Rebels
Since the winners write history, it is not too surprising that those who won the battle on the precise shape the United States would take get more press. So it is that several of the founding fathers do not get more historians interested in their beliefs and lives.
by Diane Alden
July 4: Love It or Lose It
We have belatedly come to appreciate "the greatest generation" that fought and died in World War II to preserve the freedom that Americans enjoy today. But the disappearance of history from our schools, and its virtual disappearance as a requirement for graduation from many of our leading colleges as well, has left most Americans with little knowledge or understanding of what has made us so much more fortunate than most of the rest of the human race around the world.
by Thomas Sowell
Land of the free ...
Joseph Farah sees U.S. slipping from Independence
... Home of the brave
Joseph Farah explains how to restore liberty
A little note on liberty
Barbara Simpson shows kids importance of July 4

	Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis An illuminating study of the intertwined lives of the founders of the American republic--John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington. During the 1790s, which Ellis calls the most decisive decade in our nation's history, the greatest statesmen of their generation--and perhaps any--came together to define the new republic and direct its course for the coming centuries.
	Scandalmonger : A Novel Scandalmonger is the 25th book from William Safire, the prolific, feisty New York Times columnist and word wrangler. It's a historic novel set in 1790s New England, when the Founding Fathers were enduring various crises and humiliations as they scurried to become part of the history books. Always a stickler for the truth--as long as it's uttered in the finest of phrases--the author lets us know right from the start that we're "entitled to know what is history and what is twistery." Based on documents and diaries, and complete with an exhaustive section of footnotes separating fact from fiction, Scandalmonger turns out to be a bona fide page-turner. Safire knows what he's doing; he knows he has a lesson to teach. It's a lesson about how early America wasn't much different from Clinton's America--the temptations of mistresses, the power struggles, the ridiculous debates about purity between corrupt men being just as present. If he has one message, it is this: within every powerful politician, there is a dirty-minded second grader trying to get out. Witness this scene between two outraged congressmen who seem intent on "turning the House into a 'gladiators' arena'"
	Setting the World Ablaze : Washington, Adams, Jefferson and the American Revolution Setting the World Ablaze is the story of the three men who, perhaps more than any others, helped bring the United States into being: George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. Weaving their three life stories into one narrative, John E. Ferling delivers a genuine and intimate illustration of them and, in doing so, gives us a new understanding of the passion and uncertainty of the struggle to form a new nation.
	Becoming America : The Revolution Before 1776 Publishers Weekly "Butler's original analysis is important reading on 18th-century America . . ." Kirkus Review "A sweeping, well-researched analysis of the transformative changes wrought by immigration, war, and cultural change in colonial America."
	Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy by Thomas Sowell From one of America's best-known economists, the one book anyone who wants to understand the economy needs to read. At last there is a citizen's guide to the economy, written by an economist who uses plain English. No jargon, no graphs, no equations. Yet this is a comprehensive survey, covering everything from rent control and the rise and fall of businesses to the international balance of payments. The purpose of Basic Economics is to enable people without any economic training to understand the way the economy functions-not only the American economy, but other economies around the world.