I hear “Happy Independence Day!” all the time. And I love it.
The USA Independence Day, on the fourth of July, is one of the most important in the world. The United States continues to be literally the gold standard for life in the world. Everyone wants to live here, and if the difficulty of immigrating to the USA is some years more difficult, and other years relatively easy, it remains one of the best places in the world to live, raise your family, and work towards your “American Dream.”
For the New American applying to be a citizen, we learn things about the United States we may never have learned about our native country.
For example, we are encouraged to become familiar with the The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. I invite you to download this PDF from the USCIS website. I love the historic quotes on the last page:
“No free government, nor the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people, but by…a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.”
— George Mason, 1776
“The people made the Constitution, and the people can unmake it. It is the creature of their own will, and lives only by their will.”
— John Marshall, 1821
“The happy Union of these States is a wonder; their Constitution a miracle; their example the hope of Liberty throughout the world.”
— James Madison, 1829
And of course, the first few lines of the Declaration of Independence are among the most memorable in the world:
“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.” Et cetera.
Now, I love hearing about other independence days. A few days ago I spoke with an African American friend who said that while July 4, 1776, may have been the founding of the United States of America, at that time the majority of African Americans in the colonies were enslaved. Her Independence Day is Juneteenth, or June 19, commemorating the day in 1865 when the Union Army enforced liberation of enslaved people as mandated in the Emancipation Proclamation.
Many members of the Continental Congress in 1776 were slave owners.
That led me to thinking about Independence Days around the world. Ninety-eight percent of the USA population are not indigenous people – our heritage is another country, literally everywhere in the world:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia (Czech Republic), Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Palestine State, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Countries of the world have independence days in every month of the year, as well as dates in the Islamic and Hebrew calendars.
Our law firm helps many heritage organizations celebrate both Independence Days and other dates of cultural significance, and we highly encourage all people of the United States research your heritage, and celebrate aspects of your heritage you honor or enjoy.
Members of my law firm wear heritage clothing either daily or on special occasions, and it’s a beautiful thing to see.
Whichever day of the year you celebrate Independence Day, Freedom Day, Liberation Day, Victory Day, National Day, Unity Day, Proclamation Day, or whatever you may call your special day of heritage remembrance, may you have a joyous and jubilant time!
