Some words have the power to change everything
Published July 4, 2014
Editorial by Fayetteville Observer, July 4, 2014.
The question before Congress was independence. Even that wasn't a sure thing, with several states only agreeing to sever ties with the crown at the last moment. North Carolina had been the first, on April 12, 1776. On July 2, when nine of 13 colonies voted for formal separation, they likely saw it as a step of great significance - but only for Americans. John Adams believed future generations would celebrate July 2 as the nation's birthday.
In the course of human events, we have come to celebrate an unprecedented birth of freedom on July 4, the day when Congress adopted the majestic words of Thomas Jefferson, declaring independence, based not just on enumerated grievances, but an enduring appeal to universal truths:
"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."
They say Massachusetts minutemen a year earlier fired "the shot heard 'round the world." But it's Jefferson's words that echo through history. Every time we ask if the star-spangled banner still waves, we're asking if we still believe those words.
Declaring independence was one thing. Winning it was another. Four months before, North Carolinians from Cross Creek - one of the settlements that would become Fayetteville - marched out in support of the king. They were soundly defeated by other North Carolinians. But with the war's outcome uncertain for many years, loyalties fluctuated.
When the British captured Charleston, S.C., on May 12, 1780, announcing plans to invade North Carolina, state leaders panicked. The governor said he couldn't handle the crisis. Legislators responded by assigning a Board of War with near dictatorial powers. Ironically, one of the declaration's signers, John Penn, would be the Board of War's most active member. The state's reliance on militia in coming months would owe much to Penn's mistrust of standing armies.
Many, believing independence was lost, sided with the British. But the words of 1776 had not been forgotten. Over the next year, irregular units, militia troops and the North Carolina Continental line won repeated tactical or strategic victories.
When the British commander retreated through Cross Creek, a resident thanked him for a recent victory at Guilford Courthouse, but it had been no triumph. They were on the long road leading to Yorktown and surrender to these upstart colonists with the audacity to believe.
Today is July 4. We still believe. And we still celebrate.
