Every year, when Independence Day approaches—and you’ll notice I say Independence Day and not “the Fourth of July”—I rewatch the HBO series John Adams. Now, I know historical purists will gravitate towards some of the artistic license in the series, but for the most part, the storyline is true, and the place the viewer is brought to accurately portrays the frustration, danger, and uncertainty the Founding Generation held at hand.
While the entire series is absolutely worth watching—and more than appropriately, this week—I have pulled a few of the more memorable moments from the series to illustrate the intensity of what it must have been like to go through those moments in time.
We often forget that at the time of the American Revolution, there were no countries that had created a system of government for themselves. Most governments stemmed from monarchies. So the very idea of “liberty,” of a free people establishing a government for themselves, was a foreign idea.
But with each aggression perpetrated against the colonists reaching an intolerable level, the subject of Natural Law rights and liberty came into play.
In this clip, John Adams is speaking to his church congregation about liberty, upon his nomination to the Continental Congress:
As an aside, Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney, as well as all in the cast, gave performances that should have found them all award winners, but since it was a pro-American film made during the delusional days of the Obama administration, the entertainment industry wasn’t keen on it. Nevertheless….
After the subject became one that could emerge from the shadows; after the colonies assembled in Philadelphia to seat the Continental Congress, it didn’t take long for reality to set in that King George had made up his mind to bring the colonies to heel by force, declaring that if caught, the insurrectionists (our Founding Fathers) would be executed as traitors.
Nevertheless, a committee was formed to ink what is now historically referred to as the Declaration of Independence. Most believe that Thomas Jefferson alone authored the document, but, in fact, four others were on the committee, including John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston, with Adams and Franklin playing a larger role than the latter.
In this clip, featuring Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson, you can begin to understand the complexity of what the Framers were trying to accomplish. And far from what the radical Left of today would have you believe, the Framers were well aware of the abomination of slavery:
Imagine pouring your heart and intellect into a rough draft document like Jefferson’s version of the Declaration and being brought to the reality that the whole of Congress was going to be able to bastardize it! Imagine what today’s Congress would do to that document with the ikes of AOC, Bernie Sanders, and Jasmine Crockett in its ranks! This is the reason most understand that today’s government is intellectually inferior to the intellect that was amassed at the beginning of our Republic.
Even in 1776, it took a well-crafted and emotional argument to persuade the members of the Continental Congress to embark on what everyone believed to be an impossible task: cleaving the colonies away from Great Britain via a war with the world’s most powerful military, and this doesn’t even address the impossible task of creating a constitution for a new nation, which would come much later.
In this clip, what I believe to be one of the pinnacle moments in the series, and one that is historically accurate, John Adams, in the face of resistance to independence and war, led by John Dickinson of Pennsylvania, makes his case, his plea, for a Declaration of Independence:
When we take a moment to walk a mile in the shoes of the men making this monumental decision, it is easy to understand why passions and emotions were high. Valid arguments existed on both sides of the aisle, and the people’s freedom and liberty, their very lives, were hanging in the balance.
While most of us watch the world’s events from the sidelines via social and mainstream media—and this is not to minimize the serious issues of today—is it very probable that we would have made the safer choice on July 2nd, 1776, instead of the courageous choices that allowed our country to be created? If it were you and I sitting in Philadelphia with the world’s most powerful military promising to bring its full wrath upon us, would we have had a fidelity to principle potent enough to cast our votes with the Founders and Framers?
Honestly, today, I don’t believe that our society has the courage it took to make that decision; to cast those votes. We and our political class are more like the milquetoast, sweaty-lippers from New York who couldn’t bring themselves to vote in a unanimous manner on that evening.
Our society—our American society—has gotten too comfortable with safety nets and fallbacks, too comfortable with government picking up the slack. We have become too complacent with a government that has moved away from serving a deserving people. We have become apathetic to a government that has evolved into a corrupt system of political opportunism, one that has delivered us to a time when we have a bastardized and corrupt two-tier judicial system, opportunistic and self-important politicians who only know how to tax and spend, and half a population that can’t define what a man or a woman is or agree that sovereignty needs to be a thing.
Today, I fear that our people—We the People—wouldn’t have the common sense to understand the preciousness or the importance of these words:
As we launch our nation’s semiquincentennial, our 250th year of existence, perhaps it is a great reason to reacquaint ourselves with the founding principles of our great nation. Perhaps it’s time that we embrace the culling of the governmental herd, the downsizing of our federal and state governments, and a reduction of their oppressive regulatory oversight over us, and re-embrace the idea of self-reliance and personal responsibility.
Perhaps it’s time we reject the idea of “re-imagining” things and come to terms with the many realities that we have purposely chosen to ignore: living within our means, obeying laws, that we are not entitled to everything we want, and that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights matter, and not the politicized and bastardized constitution of the Marxist progressive-Left.
Maybe, it’s time to understand that when President Washington talked about the poison of the political parties in our Republic in his Farewell Address, he was talking less about the organizations themselves and more about people putting the well-being of their political parties before the well-being of their neighbors.
And maybe it’s time we recognize that when Washington warned against “foreign entanglements,” he was referring more to a foolish embrace of globalism than in coming to the aid of our allies when evil comes to call at their door.
On, July 4th, 2025, as we begin the year-long celebration of the most important document in our nation’s history, and perhaps world history (it is at least on par with the Magna Carta), I suggest to you that it is time to rededicate ourselves, all of us, to the principles that founded our Republic, to being American and to being a proud American.
In 250 years, our nation has grown to be the greatest nation—the greatest and freest nation—on the face of the planet, and one that has defended and afforded freedom for others around the world. That is something to be proud of.
Happy birthday to the United States of America, and thank you to the Founders and Framers for your bravery, courage, and intellect. Unlike the ungrateful on the toxic-Left, this American has a deep gratitude for your sacrifices.
My liberty, truth, sovereignty, and freedom reign for at least another 250 years, and may God bless our people and our Republic.
Happy Independence Day.
Then, when we return, our segment on America’s Third Watch, broadcast nationally from our flagship station WGUL AM860 & FM93.7 in Tampa, Florida.
In The Name Of Freedom…
As we close this Independence Day, let’s remember what truly makes America exceptional: the unyielding right to free speech, the courage to engage in honest conversations, and the pursuit of truth grounded in our shared values.
Our nation was built on the foundation of community—neighbors talking openly, debating respectfully, and standing united under liberty’s banner. Free speech isn’t just a right; it’s the lifeblood of our Republic that keeps us strong against those who would silence dissent or rewrite history.
This Independence Day, I encourage you to seek out reputable sources like The Hoover Institution, Hillsdale College, or the National Constitution Center to deepen your understanding of these principles. Search for yourself—because freedom thrives when informed citizens speak boldly and listen well.
God bless America, and may we always cherish our freedoms together.
Happy birthday, America!
Share this post