How I Learned the Declaration of Independence Is about More Than Freedom

FIRST PERSON | The Declaration of Independence is something we all are exposed to at some point in our lives. I remember vividly when my fifth grade teacher told us we all must learn the document and recite it in front of the class. Of course we all groaned, but secretly I was excited. Some of us are born with a rare form of patriotism for their country, and I was one of those children.

I ran home that afternoon and gave my mom the good news. "I am going to learn the Declaration of Independence and be the best in the class," I said. My mother was supportive as always and worked for days assisting me in learning it. I memorized it and gave the performance without a flaw to the class. It was at the end of the performance that my teacher really stumped me.

She said, "OK now what does this really mean?" I gave the typical answer, "freedom," I smiled and proudly announced to the class. She wanted me to probe deeper and really think about what it meant. She instructed all of us to think about what this historic document means to us and will always mean to us. That lesson has stuck in my head for years, and I still hold the document with extreme importance.

My favorite line of the document often runs through my head like a broken record at various events in life. Anytime I feel as if someone has put me down and I will never succeed in life, I hear these lines spoken in my head: "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."

We are all equal. This is what makes this country what it is. This is AMERICA. Anyone can come from any background and be anything they want to be. We make the rags-to-riches story possible in this country. The Declaration of Independence has made that possible for us all.

My teacher was right when she wanted us to think of more than freedom. The document did provide us with freedom, but it is so much more than that. It is the power to hope, dream, believe, and be what we want to be. I'm proud my child can grow up in a nation where it is OK to dream big and hope that he too will have my sense of patriotism instilled in him as he sees the fireworks light up the sky on Monday.