cc4cg
United We Stand in this 250th Year
Happy 250th Anniversary of the American Dream.
We are each a reflection of the complicated, messy, and glorious history we celebrate today.
We look at our past to find what needs to be better understood and what needs to be rejoiced.
Learn from these reflections and make the Dream continue - stronger, wiser and in honor of those who started and continued to Dream.
- Goldie (cc4cg)
The Amazing Declaration of Independence
Goldie and Janice sending a "We are America" video into the 250 to 250 project. More info on this in the next section down, with Heather Cox Richardson.
Click on the graphic above to hear Thomas Jefferson read the Declaration of Independence
What is Patriotism?
"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it"
- Mark Twain
"Patriotism. Imagine the foundation of our nataion as a magnificent but vulnerable Liberty Tree, whose branches comprise our Constitution, our Ideals, our Moral Compass. Patriotism in essence is the collective responsibility of each American citizen to find common ground to preserve the Liberty Tree from harm, whether nature or manmade."
- Sharon (cc4cg)
"I'm a patriot because I love this land we stand on. And despite all our flaws, I still believe in the promise of the city on the hill."
- Beth (cc4cg)
"Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be unqualified and excusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may."
- Mark Twain
The Promise of Religious Freedom
Laurie's Family Story
My ancestors, Jacob and Catherine Hertzler, arrived in Philadelphia in 1749 at the invitation of William Penn with the promise of religious freedom. They had fled their home in Switzerland where they were pursued by government bounty hunters and threatened with violence, imprisonment, and enslavement.
Jacob was an ordained Amish bishop and joined the growing community in Pennsylvania where they held strong in the teachings of non-violence at great personal sacrifice throughout the French Indian War and the American Revolution. The "peace churches," Amish, Mennonite, Brethren, and Quaker were also included in the migration to America and their path to religious freedom was not easy.
But, all still hold a deep understanding of what it's like to be hunted by your own government, of what it means to be welcomed with the promise of peace and freedom, and of the sacrifice required from those who stand firm in their principles. This is one American story, not well known, that makes me proud and ready to defend the principles that build this nation.
- Laurie (cc4cg)
"What has made America great, has always been the American people."
- Heather Cox Richardson
Click on the picture of Heather Cox Richardson to learn about her 250 to 250 project that highlights the "real story of how Americans have always worked, often against seemingly insurrmountable odds, to create a more perfect union." Find her playlist of these short readings about Americans here.
For an uplifting, moving eight minutes, listen to John F. Kennedy's famous City on the Hill Speech, 1961
"I am a 78 yo retired veteran of the US Navy, more so I am a veteran of: The United States of America. I cried today, listening to this speech, never having heard it before; for JFK, but more so for The United States of America, and we the people who strive to keep the flame lit. May its beacon of hope re-light brighter than it has ever shined."
- A Veteran of the USA
Click on the picture to hear the speech
More Quotes...
"The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful and virtuous."
- Frederick Douglass
"I submit these words from Governor Morris as he wrote in the Preamble to the Constitution: "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
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Think about it, just as we go to religious worship to learn how to get along with our fellows, so should we readily recall these words from Governor Morris to live by our politics. D'Toqueville said, "America is great because she is good." Let's try to be good again.
- Warren (cc4cg)
“Our history is not a story of perfection. It's a story of imperfect people working toward great ideals. This flawed nation is also a really good nation, and the principles we hold are the hope of all mankind. When children are given the real history of America, they will also learn to love America.”
-George W. Bush, Sept 17, 2002
Barbara Jordan's inspiring speech on July 12, 1976, calling for Americans to commit to national community and the common good.
"We are a people in a quandary about the present. We are a people in search of our future. We are a people in search of a national community."
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"In this election year we must define the common good and begin again to shape a common good and begin again to shape a common future. Let each person do his or her part. If one citizen is unwilling to participate, all of us are going to suffer. For the American idea, though it is shared by all of us, is realized in each one of us.
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And now, what are those of us who are elected public officials supposed to do? We call ourselves public servants but I’ll tell you this: we as public servants must set an example for the rest of the nation. It is hypocritical for the public official to admonish and exhort the people to uphold the common good. More is required of public officials than slogans and handshakes and press releases. More is required. We must hold ourselves strictly accountable. We must provide the people with a vision of the future." - Barbara Jordan
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Click on the picture above to hear her speech
Click on the video to listen
“In the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.”
- Barack Obama
And finally, take in John Legend singing "Feeling Good" by Nina Simone. This beautiful song about resilience, liberation, personal and political freedom and hope, written by Simone in 1965, never fails to uplift.