VALDOSTA — On a summer day 241 years ago, a 39-year-old John Hancock stepped forward underneath the gabled roof of the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall) to sign his name to one of the most explosive, impactful political documents ever to exist: the Declaration of Independence.

Leaders from the American colonies had actually voted to declare independence two days before on July 2, but Hancock’s signature launched the beginning of a month-long procession of men inscribing their names to the paper marked with “We hold these truths to be self-evident.”

These men were taking a huge risk. The Declaration could have been their death certificate.

“They were committing treason to the British empire. They’re patriots only in the sense that they won the war,” said Dr. Dixie Ray Haggard, president of the Georgia Association of Historians.

“Had they lost, most of the leaders would have been executed. They knew this. Those people knew that they were signing their death certificate if they lost … but they did it anyway because they were fighting for a set of principles.”

The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — that’s what they were fighting for. Such principles stem from the arguments of John Locke and other Enlightenment thinkers.

Although the principles had been around for a while, no one had ever before built a nation around the idea of unalienable rights, the belief that all people are born with a set of rights.

It was unlike anything the world had ever seen. 

A break in human history

The American Revolution didn’t start and end with the war, Haggard said, because the revolution was built primarily on ideas, not bullets.

It started in 1763, when England began asserting more control over the colonies through increased taxes and stifling policies. The colonists originally just wanted more rights as Englishmen, but the desire for more liberty and less taxes soon evolved into something much more radical.

The revolution ended, Haggard said, with the 1787 adoption of the U.S. Constitution, the “We the People,” the cornerstone of our nation.

Haggard said no country before America had ever built a government from scratch and actually put it in writing.

“It’s a huge break in human history with the way things have been done in the past. It’s hugely significant in the way they did it,” he said.

Instead of launching a haphazard rebellion and fighting chaotically, the founding fathers took a fairly legalistic and conservative approach to the Revolution, Haggard said, by announcing what they wanted to accomplish from the outset and avoiding a “major upheaval of the society.”

That strong vision is one reason why the American Revolution succeeded while so many others throughout time have imploded on themselves, Haggard said.

“I love the fact that America is this … different” kind of country, said Sam Null, a Doerun resident and owner of Heritage Embroidery.

“The world had never known anything like that before. It was a great experiment.”

While many today like to invoke the words of the Founding Fathers when making a political point, the men who formed America were far from a united front, and the decision to take on the British — the biggest empire ever at the time — was met with much dissension throughout the colonies.

An always divided America

The mudslinging and partisan attacks found in politics today is nothing new. The Founding Fathers disagreed on a wide spectrum of issues.

They did, however, unite behind the pressing need to sever ties with England. Not every colonist shared that sentiment, Haggard said.

“We’ve always been divided in factions. There’s never been unanimity,” he said.

Once the colonies declared independence, American colonists split fairly evenly into three groups, Haggard said.

“One-third want to rebel and gain independence. About one-third want to … (stay) neutral in the process, and then one third want to stay loyal,” he said.

Over the course of the war, the neutral people start siding more and more with those who wanted independence.

By the end of the war, most Americans favored the outcome, Haggard said. Those who didn’t left and went to Canada or England or another part of the British empire.

Today, America is still plagued with political strife and division as the two major parties try to interpret the principles found in the Declaration and Constitution.

However, whether red or blue, “you can claim those principles,” Haggard said, although the definition of life, liberty and happiness will differ drastically by party.

“But there’s still something there that binds us together. This is what makes America unique and it’s what makes this a special place,” he said.

But when it comes down to it, the United States was built on treason, on the idea that it’s OK to overthrow the government. Is that philosophy still relevant in today’s America, where patriotism is paramount?

As the child of a Vietnam War veteran, Dalton resident Mary Hayes says Independence Day always reminds her of her father’s service to his country.

“That wasn’t a popular war, and some people didn’t like those who went to fight it. But he always told me he never regretted it. He wouldn’t have done anything different. His country called him, and he went. That’s what men like him did,” she said.

Hayes said men like that made America great.

“On July 4, we celebrate our freedom and our country’s freedom,” she said. “Well, that freedom had to be earned, and they were the ones who earned it.”

However, when the Declaration of Independence was signed, it didn’t bring freedom to all — at least not at first.

All (white) men created equal?

Many have criticized the American Revolution for not being revolutionary enough, Haggard said.

“Slaves were still slaves at the end of the revolution. Indians didn’t have rights and women didn’t have rights,” he said.

Essentially the Declaration said that all white men are equal, Haggard said. He added that as strange as it sounds, just making that statement was revolutionary at the time.

“To our point of view, that doesn’t sound revolutionary, but during that time period, that was a big deal,” he said.

Classism was dominant in colonial society. Elites were born into power and those born into lower stations had no hope of moving up, no opportunity for social mobility.

The Declaration and Constitution leveled the playing field and allowed white men of any status to have a say, Haggard said.

In the long run, that move triggered a bigger revolution over time that brought liberties to minorities and women, Haggard said. It introduced a rhetoric of equality that hadn’t been heard before.

“It sets in motion eventually the women’s movement for suffrage. It sets in motion eventually the desire to end slavery. It sets in motion after that the civil rights movement,” he said.

A work in progress worth celebrating

America is far from perfect. The country always has and always will be a work in progress, Haggard said.

“Is everybody in our society socially equal today? No, that’s not the case. Is everybody in our society today economically equal? No, but technically every citizen that has not committed a felony has the same set of civil rights today because of what was started in 1776,” he said.

“I would never argue we’re perfect … but if you’re an American citizen and you enjoy a set of rights today, you have to look at July 4 as the beginning of your ability to enjoy those things.”

Thomasville resident Mark Sealy said Independence Day is the representation of the unique liberties Americans possess.

“(It) means having the freedom to do what we want in this country without having a bunch of dictators telling us what we can do,” he said. “It means being able to spend time with my family, friends, coworkers (and) having time off to enjoy the freedom that other countries don’t have.”

The real question now, Haggard said, is figuring out what’s included in the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The health care debate that’s currently raging throughout the country is a perfect example of that conundrum, Haggard said. The country is deciding whether or not health care is one of those fundamental, unalienable rights.

“We’re still debating the principles. If you look at the current health-care debate, this falls right into that category. What are you owed by society as a citizen? What are you owed as a human being? This is very much tied to the principles of July 4,” he said.

But regardless of differences in interpretation, Haggard said the ideals that founded America are something that every U.S. citizen can get behind, and he argued that July 4 is the only holiday that is fully celebrated across the spectrum.

“Regardless of your background, your ethnicity, your religious beliefs, your nation of origin, technically, everybody stops and celebrates on some level July 4,” he said.

Dalton resident Steve Lee turned 10 in 1976, America’s Bicentennial.

“It seemed like every day was July 4,” he said. “That was pretty big for a kid. There was always something patriotic on TV. If you went to a baseball game, there were fireworks. It was really great. But that was also when we really started learning in school about why July 4 was so important, about the Declaration of Independence and about Thomas Jefferson and George Washington and all of them.”

Lee said he tried to make sure his children learned those lessons, too.

“I think it’s a lot like Christmas. At Christmas, we get caught up in the presents and the shopping and stuff like that, and that’s fine, but that’s not the point of Christmas,” he said. “And on July 4, we look forward to the fireworks and cooking out … but we need to remember this is our country’s birthday and maybe think about what it took to get our independence and what it has taken to keep it.”

Tifton resident Monty Spinks agreed, saying the Fourth of July should be “sacred to any citizen of this country.”

Tyler Copeland of Tifton said it’s important for people to remember that the holiday is “more than a barbecue, or taking the kids to the beach. It should be a time for reflection on what this country was founded on.”

From the very beginning, America was marked as a land of opportunity, a place of newfound freedom. Dalton resident Jack Mendez — who was born in Texas but has parents who were born in Mexico — said that’s what is great about the U.S.

“It says you can come here, from wherever, and if you work hard and take care of your family and be a good neighbor, you can be one of us.”

Such a concept is what Independence Day represents to him.

“I think in a lot of countries, if you weren’t born there, if your parents weren’t born there, if your grandparents weren’t born there, it’s hard to feel like you belong,” he said. “But in the United States, if you believe in those ideas, you are an American, even if you weren’t born here.”

The SunLight Project team of journalists who contributed to this report includes Alan Mauldin, Charles Oliver, Patti Dozier and Eve Guevara, along with the writer, team leader John Stephen. Kimberly Cannon, Isaiah Smith and Jessie Box also contributed to the report.

To contact the team, email sunlightproject@gaflnews.com.