I hope everyone has a wonderful day today having barbeques, making ice cream, and watching fireworks. I always get a little choked up every year thinking of how proud I am of the nation I was lucky enough to be born in. Sure, we have a host of problems, but I am a patriot and love my country nonetheless.
I am reminded of a blog post I read a year ago regarding the Declaration of Independence (although for the life of me I can't remember who or where I read it), in it the author cited a tradition that has fallen to the wayside, a public reading of the Declaration of Independence that would occur at every celebration. Try as I could, I cannot locate anything to verify this as truth. Oh, I found a number of blog posts and articles on the internet that assert much the same thing, that it is an old tradition that should be revived, but I could not locate anything that cited any actual references. Well, I have my own reference that I am sure will amuse the heck out of all you reading, Laura Ingalls Wilder. Lil' Miss and I have been working our way slowly through the series and in her book Little Town on the Prairie she talks about going into town to celebrate the 4th of July, the first celebration of it in the new town. She specifically recalls a man reading aloud the Declaration as one of the big events of the day, so I can say pretty surely that in the late 1800's at least in South Dakota it was being read aloud.
With two fairly young kids I don't know how far I will get through the Declaration, but I will certainly try to read at least some of it to them. It is the document which announced the beginnings of our country and thus is vitally important, they should be aware of it from an early age. How about you? Will you at least read the Declaration to yourself if not aloud?
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