The Fourth of July is about independence.

Independence is liberty.

Liberty is freedom.

Our most basic freedoms are guaranteed in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

There are no words that more clearly define what it means to be an American than the 45 words of the First Amendment.

In those words, all Americans are promised five basic freedoms.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

The founding fathers guaranteed:

— Freedom of religion

— Freedom of speech

— Freedom of the press

— Freedom to assemble

— Freedom to petition the government

In their foresight and wisdom, the framers understood that without any one of these forms of expression, we are not really free.

Our founding fathers feared that a British tyranny could easily be replaced by an American tyranny if government was not held in check.

In the Declaration of Independence they wrote:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

These words are primary to our entire form of government.

All real power, belongs to the governed not to the governing.

The protections they put in place — the five basic freedoms — are crucial to preserving the republic.

The Fourth of July, the uniquely American holiday, celebrates these freedoms.

The day is not just about picnics, parades, concerts, festivals, patriotic speech and fireworks.

Independence Day is about who and what we are as a people.

For the Fourth Estate, Independence Day is also an unofficial Newspaper Day. Newspapers are part and parcel of the basic freedoms that define us as a nation and separate our society and form of government from most of the rest of the world.

A free and unfettered press makes us a more free society.

Jim Zachary is the editor of The Valdosta Daily Times, CNHI’s director of newsroom training and development, and president emeritus of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation.