The U.S. turns 234 years old Sunday, July 4, 2010. Assuming good weather, the Brandywine Creek will likely be filled with canoeists and kayakers, and swimming pools and country clubs will be packed. Barbecues and fireworks will fill bellies and the night sky.

But behind all the partying, July 4 is the most significantly profound day in both U.S. and world history. It is the day when a few dozen American colonists told Great Britain they intended to be a free and independent people. It was the day they gave their reason to the world in the words of the Declaration of Independence.

The Declaration set forth so eloquently the concept of unalienable rights, that rights exist before government, that those rights belong to the people, that they do not come from government.

It sets forth the principle of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness belonging to people and that a government only gets its just powers from the consent of the governed. The Declaration establishes the need for limiting government.

We need not elaborate or belabor now on all the implications of that document, but suffice to say, it established an ideal for all mankind.

It’s up to each individual to consider the words Thomas Jefferson wrote, to weigh their meaning and compare today’s political reality with the visions held by our funding fathers.

The Declaration of Independence, signed July 4, 1776, is the first of a series of documents —along with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights— the were the envy of the world, that spurred most of our ancestors to leave the lands of their birth and come to these shores.

Read the Declaration again. Perhaps it will be just words for some, but it may also bring a tear to the eye of others.

Happy Independence Day. Enjoy the food and the fireworks, but remember why we have that day. We at ChaddsFordLive.com wish you peace and liberty.