Has America Lived Up to Its Declaration?

I found this piece after writing the blog for Independence Day.  It has several of the same items that I discussed, though much more eloquently.  The entire piece can be found here, and is well worth a read. 

Progress has been made toward achieving the goals put forth in the Declaration of Independence, but as we celebrate the anniversary of America's birth we should resolve to do more.

By Arthur Joel Katz (Patch Poster) - Updated June 30, 2011 10:30 pm ET

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… Although I bow to no one in my love of our country, I think Declaration Day might be better used in examining to what extent we have kept the promise of the Declaration and to what extent we have failed.

To start with, there was a statement in the Declaration that clearly a large number of the signers did not believe: that all men are created equal. Thomas Jefferson, who drafted the Declaration, was a slave owner. Washington was a slave owner who even pursued a runaway slave who disappeared in Philadelphia during his presidency, …  Four of the first five presidents were slave holders. Some had guilty consciences about slavery, but none felt compelled to free their slaves during their lifetimes.

Sad to say, America has never really lived by the principal that all men are created equal. “Men” was narrowly interpreted to refer to sex rather than mankind, so half the population was excluded from the vote and had very few rights until the 19th Amendment became part of the Constitution in 1920. (A few states had permitted women to vote earlier.) Although we were taught in school that America is the great “melting pot,” the fact is that successive waves of immigrants were scorned and discriminated against. Think of the Irish, the Slavs, the Italians, the Jews and the Chinese among others. Even today, Hispanics whose families have lived in this country for generations are often described as “wetbacks.”

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The notion that all men are endowed by their Creator with the right to pursue happiness is not evident in our society. We interfere with all sorts of personal rights related to happiness. We force women to bear children they do not want. We prohibit gay people from enjoying the rights and relationships that straight people enjoy. We impose religious dictates, despite a constitutional prohibition, on people who have different views. We prevent the use of drugs which alleviate pain to people who endlessly suffer from pain.

It must be said that despite these criticisms, the United States has made substantial progress toward achieving the goals set forth in the Declaration. We have sacrificed our blood and our treasure to preserve the world from tyranny. Very few of us regret that our ancestors came to this country. Whatever the faults we have with our country, there is no other place we or, seemingly, the rest of the world, would prefer to live.

In my view, we should all celebrate America on July 4, but we should work a lot harder on making it better.