Letters from Linden
by JACK LINDEN
Happy July 2nd! We should really be celebrating July 2 as our date of independence since it was on this date that the Declaration was signed. The Declaration was announced on July 4th to give the signers time to leave Philadelphia. We need to remember that the signers of the Declaration were in fact traitors to England. They were radical in their thoughts and in their deeds.
It was a radical idea to believe that the common people could rule themselves. A monarchy was the accepted form of government in 1776 and the signers were denying the accepted. Not only was a monarchy accepted at the time but generally, the idea of the divine right of kings was still in vogue. After all, if God had ordained one to be king, anyone going against the mortal king would be sinning.
