The Fourth of July, Independence Day, a week or so with plethora of public and private pyrotechnics and picnics (I must do a column on alliteration!)

As a longtime government and history teacher, I hope everyone knows exactly what this day commemorates.

On a hot summer's day, July 4 to be exact, in 1776 in the Pennsylvania Statehouse in Philadelphia, representatives of the 13 British colonies in North America, the Second Continental Congress declared themselves independent "… from all allegiance to the British Crown … and the State of Great Britain… ." This was something that just wasn't done in the 18th century or for centuries earlier. It was surely a bold move and just as certainly a move that was not the first thought of the 55 representatives who made up the Congress. It was a slap in the face to the then most wealthy and powerful nation on earth.

This was done with some audacity and flair. John Hancock's signature, perhaps the most famous in the world, was written very large and bold because as president of the Congress he wanted King George III to be able to read it without having to use his spectacles. Bold for sure because Hancock and the others who signed might as well have been signing their death certificates because had they been caught, they would have been hanged.

The king and his government didn't take treasonous acts lightly. When the founders pledged to each other "… our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor … " they meant it quite literally. The British army at the time of the Declaration was actively engaged in putting down the rebellion.

As we well know, the "rebellion" was not put down. And after what is still the longest war in our nation's history, the then most powerful nation on earth recognized that its former colonial possessions were indeed, "… a free and independent state … "

Although this was a seminal event in the history of democracy in the world, it was far from a perfect story. The men of the Second Continental Congress were just that - men. All white, and with few exceptions, all Protestant and wealthy. Many were slave holders including the document's author, Thomas Jefferson. The ideas he expressed so eloquently were more those of English political philosopher John Locke than his.

For more than another century, millions of people were less than full beneficiaries of the Declaration because of slavery and legal and de facto segregation. And there isn't room here to talk about the plight of the original inhabitants of this continent; the Native Americans.

Still, on the anniversary of our country's beginning, we should celebrate who we are, warts and all, and who we have the freedom to be and become. We need to celebrate the high ideals stated in the birth certificate of our nation and strive to live up to them; I don't think we're there yet. We need to be proud of where we've come, but mindful of our problems and flaws. And for many reasons, we should ask God to bless America.

P.S. Cal City and Calumet Memorial Park District have a great Freedom's Eve celebration today at TF North. See you there.

The opinions are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at gjgrenchik@aol.com