Two hundred and thirty years ago a group of economic colonies did what many colonies had done before and would do again. They rebelled. The war raged for seven years. Great powers intervened for and against the colonies. In the end, The United States of America was born.
The government of this new nation was based on a remarkable idea. That government was not the divine right of royalty, nor was it the blood soaked right of conquering warriors. The idea was that government derived from the will of the populace and existed to serve them. In 1789 a constitution was adopted that codified these ideas.
Then, a remarkable thing happened. It was unique in the history of the world. An election was held and a new leader was chosen. In a small room in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania a swearing in ceremony occurred. For the first time, power over a nation was transferred from one person to another - not because of birthright and not because of bloodshed - but because the voice of the people had spoken, and government had listened.
This change of power now seems common place and occurs regularly around the world. Regardless of what we think of how this great experiment call the USA has turned out today, we should remember how absolutely novel the idea was at the time and how grateful we ought to be to those who made it a reality.
Happy birthday to The United States of America. May you live up to the promise of your birth.
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