Try to imagine what it was like. July 4, 1776. You’re a patriot standing on the streets of Boston or Philadelphia. Maybe Stillwater, N.Y. or a farm outside of town. You hear the news. America has declared our Independence. We have declared to the world we are no longer kingsmen. Imagine those patriots as they thought, now, I am a free man. Can we possibly imagine, standing there at that moment, how that first breath of Freedom filling our lungs must have felt. That breath you breathe right now. The same one taken by each and every patriot on that day for the first time in history. A breath they had never known. A breath they had never tasted. When I try to imagine it – it overwhelms me. That first breath. What was that very first taste of Freedom like? Can you imagine? A taste that reaches your soul?
Try to imagine how it might have felt to look with your new eyes, the streets, the buildings, the fields, seeing all around you, a whole new beginning. The endless opportunity. The Hope. The chance to prove your own character. To be able to see the very birth of Individual Freedom. Right before your eyes. Imagine how that must have looked, through our patriot’s eyes. I wonder if we can see it.
Imagine, those first strong steps these patriots took – the pride they must have felt. The feeling of I am born equal. My voice – as important as yours. It would puff your chest, it would strengthen your handshake, you now look a person straight in the eye. Everything is different. A rebirth for all. I wonder if we can imagine that feeling in America on July 4, 1776.
I wonder if we can imagine – what declaring this for all people would feel like?
I know we can imagine their first taste of Freedom, that first sight of Hope, the pride of those first strong steps. For them, as it was for our patriots. Imagine.