Matthew Johnson: "America--Founded for Freedom"
America. The greatest nation in the world. Free. We live in the most powerful, the most free nation anywhere, America. From its humble foundations in the colonial world to the most influential country since the Roman Empire, America has always kept freedom close to our hearts. In the Declaration of Independence, the founding fathers decreed “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed...with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” This philosophy composes the values of freedom that guided our ancestors, guides us, and will guide future generations.
From the Founding Fathers to my grandfather, each generation before me has lived with the core values set forth in the Declaration. This principle of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness formed the foundations for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Each was ratified in order to, in some way, protect each and every unalienable right Americans enjoy every day. During the Revolution, Patrick Henry said in his famous speech that he would rather die than live without liberty, without freedom. In the civil war, many a soldier fought and died for the equality of man, the freedom of all. Women like Susan B. Anthony fought for equality of woman, the vote for all. Each and every one of these patriots fought for the freedoms America was founded on. Each and every one of them fought to improve the freedoms we have now.
Today, as I am writing this, thousands of troops are working and fighting, just like patriots past, around the world to protect our freedom and our values. I am deeply indebted to our nations heroes, fighting on the front line for me, my family, and my country. These modern patriots are willing to sacrifice their lives for the freedom of others and the continuing liberty of Americans. Walking through an airport, I saw many soldiers beginning their journey, some for their second or third time, to the Middle East, and I felt proud. Proud to be an American, where I can be free to practice any religion I want, go to any college I want, and have any career I want. Proud to be an American, where we stand up for our unalienable rights, fight to retain our freedom, and are brave enough to pay the ultimate price. America is my homeland. America is my pride. America is my freedom. I am grateful that the Founding Fathers established this great nation to be free, for me, for you, and for America. I am thankful that our soldiers around the world are ready to fight for life, liberty, and equality.
Allegiance to this country is mandatory in order to keep our nation free. Today some of these freedoms are being challenged through such legislation as the Patriot Act. Some claim that this infringes on America's freedom and the privacy of many Americans. This claim is entirely true, but we must endure such small infringements in order to preserve the greater freedom, protect the values we stand for. Terrorists may attack America once, but we need to prevent this attack on our beliefs, our freedom from ever happening again; to do so, we must sacrifice some privacy or a few privileges. My first ancestor arrived in America in 1619. Through Indian massacres and constant hostility, he lived with certain restrictions in order to protect his community from the Indians. He sacrificed minor liberties in order to survive, just like we must do now. America will hold strong to the freedom it was founded upon, no matter if it is a threat from Indians or terrorists, but we need to fight for and defend our freedom.
Like our Founding Fathers and those before us, we must protect the freedoms we enjoy for future generations. Instead of degrading our government, we need to bond together. As one, we can better protect and preserve freedom. Spreading the history of our nation, the origins of our freedom is extremely important. Patriotism needs to be restored, and to do so we must preach about the freedoms our country was founded on. We must support and defend our values, our freedom, and our constitution.
This country was constructed on numerous freedoms, among which are those set forth in the Declaration of Independence. These core values form the foundation of American democracy, the essence of American patriotism. They guided us through the creation of the country we love, they govern our existence today, and they will direct the America of tomorrow. Thank you Founding Fathers for establishing strong foundations for freedom, thank you armed forces for protecting our freedom today, and thank you Joe Foss Institute for spreading freedom and patriotism far into the future.
God Bless Our Troops. God Bless Freedom. God Bless America.
|
