On the Fourth of July I have made it my habit to read the Declaration of Independence. Those big words of the preamble and the conclusion continue to impress me by the power that words can execute. This year I’ve been drawn to a more technical section though: “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.”
The most prominent theme that follows is the well-known “taxation without representation” among many others.
My highlight this year is about immigration:
“He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.”
The biggest concern for America was and ought to be: how can we get the most people here and make them citizens as quickly and as smoothly as possible? The king of England is hurting us by putting up a fence around our borders…
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