THE FUSE

In less than a month, the United States will be celebrating a reminder. The word reminder is carefully chosen. Though we often think of it as such, the Fourth of July is not the date a document was created. The manifesto tied to it, the Declaration of Independence, was in fact written over months of careful contemplation and mostly in June of 1776. The date isn’t a signing date either. The fact is, most of the delegates signed the Declaration on August 2. Truth be told, it’s not even a birth date. After the Declaration and before the colonies became a country, we weathered a long odds war that lasted five precarious years. In fact, the first real document binding the states together (the Articles of Confederation) wasn’t even executed until March 1, 1781. So, as we celebrate the 250 mark, what should July Fourth remind us of? It should remind us of a single word: Still.