Independence Day: Happy Fourth of July to All Who Dream the American Dream!

Happy Birthday to us, happy birthday to us, happy birthday dear America, happy birthday to us.

"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..." , excerpted from The United States Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Continental Congress in 1776.

"...Give me your tired, your poor / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, / The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. / Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. /I lift my lamp beside the golden door!", taken from the poem, The New Colossus, written by Emma Lazarus, in 1883 and etched in its entirety on a bronze plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

A political treatise setting down the rules and reasons for the birth of a nation, and a sonnet inspired by immigrants and penned as part of a fundraising effort for a statue from France.
 
These are the words that define America. They are our moral standard - the ideals we aspire to. They are messages to the rest of the world - and  reminders to ourselves - that around here, we take the higher ground. These grace-filled words are how we see ourselves.

Americans are self-reliant: we  know what it means to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. And we know what it means to lend a helping hand. We believe in second chances and new beginnings. We believe in redemption. We don't believe in giving up.

We share a Past not always proud and we remember blood ill-spilled. With shame, our memories accuse as we recall a darker time, when bigotry and hatred divided this land of ours. But, we remember too, a Dream and we know that when we stand united for a righteous cause, even prejudice and fear can fall.

America was born as a stand against tyranny and oppression. A promise of refuge and hope. We are a country made up of immigrants - we hail from all around the globe - but we speak with one voice when we recite The Pledge of Allegiance. We believe in "liberty and justice for all...".  Most of us.