 of nature and of nature's God entitle them. A decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impale them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. C. Baxter is an American, breeze, and awards, including the famed Peabody Award in addition to seven TV Emmys. He is a dedicated student of American history and proud of the one thing he loves above all else, his country. Now let us meet our distinguished host. First American institutions. I'm only Frank Baxter. However, with the help of some powerful pages of history, we're going to reexamine this priceless document, this venerable piece of parchment that has been handed down to us with ever so much loving care. This declaration of independence that is our heritage. Most of us, I think, know a little of what happened on that hot prickly 4th of July in 1776. We know that the Liberty Bell rang. We know that Thomas Jefferson played a part in it and John Adams. We know it took place in Philadelphia in Independence Hall or the State House, as it was known at that time. And we're all familiar with the signature of John Hancock, who wrote his name so large that King George could read it even without his spectacles. Let's take a good look at our great national treasure, our crown jewels, so to speak. For it is a treasure of value without compare. Out of this seed part of our heritage has come the Constitution. Out of it came the Bill of Rights. Out of it came our fundamental laws. And out of it came a philosophy and a word that swept the world as no other political ideas ever done before or since. For out of our heritage has come human liberty, democracy, and the birth of a great nation. And this is our heritage. All right, now we know a little of what it is. Next, we ask ourselves, how did it happen? Why was it necessary, suddenly, to shuck off our family ties to cut the apron strings that bound us to Mother England? Well, it didn't happen suddenly. It was a long, long time before the pressure was strong enough to blow the lid. One man alone was responsible. The handsome young stubborn ill-starred villain of the story, His Majesty King George III of England. In all 28 separate and specific charges are listed in the declaration. The King was billeting the troops in the homes of the people. The King deprived us in many cases of the benefits of trial by jury. The King suspended our legislatures and refused to listen to our side of the dispute. He has ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed our people. This is the heart of the matter. These oppressive acts by England. Unjust taxes, one after another. Taxes on personal property, if you please. All of which cause Patrick Henry to explode in defiance, give me liberty or give me death. The Stamp Act, the Townsend Act of 65, import on glass, paper, and tea. A boycott by the colonists brought repeal of this act, except for the tax on tea. Result? Band of patriots disguised as Indians had themselves a tea party. In 1770, Bob of Rowdy's heckled alone British sentry in Boston. Guard came, mobbed through stones. Britishers fired a ragged volley. Five poor misguided souls lay dead, and history called it the Boston Massacre. Night of April 18th, 75. Paul Revere rides. Each column moves on Lexington. Shots are fired. Eight colonists killed. April 19th, redcoats routed at Concord. Tide turns in a new country. June 17th, 1775, a swarming army of ragged-tail militiamen stand up to the full might of England's best. A thousand redcoats die on the slopes of Breeds Hill to be known later as the Battle of Bunker Hill. Oh yes, it was a long time coming, this explosion that was triggered by the actions of the men who gathered in the old state house on that hot 4th of July in 1776. These men who, before the day was over, were to mutually pledge to each other their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. Their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. This is where the United States of America was born. Right here in this sacred shrine, think of the men who've met here. Probably as great a collection of brains and vision, of education, of genius, of courage, of experience ever brought together in the history of mankind. It was, if you believe in them, and I believe in this one, a miracle. I have no doubt of it. Excitement crackled among the delegates from the 13 colonies on that 4th of July. They were here to make a decision. Should they vote to sever all ties with the crown? Or should they procrastinate, stall off the inevitable, try to give King George just one more chance? Specifically, the delegates to the Congress were to decide on a resolution presented about three weeks earlier by Richard Henry Lee, senior delegate from the colony of Virginia. But these united colonies are, and of right, ought to be free and independent states that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown. And they're all political connections between them and the state of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved. The delegates had thought about it. They talked to each other about it. The whole population of the colonies had been discussing it, in fact. Now the decision had to be made. Think for a moment of the consequences of this action. If they voted for independence, there would be a war, a costly, bloody war. And if they lost, it would in all certainty mean confiscation of their property, prison for their families, and as certain as anything could be, the hangman's noose for the lot of them. Now Congress had made another decision back there on the 7th of June, a wise and I think a most fortunate decision. They appointed a committee to prepare a document, an actual declaration of independence, just in case Lee's resolution was passed later on. Five men, representative of the whole, were chosen to be on this drafting committee. There was Robert R. Livingston of New York, the young lawyer, only 30 years old at the time. Livingston later administered the oath of office to George Washington at his first inauguration. And it was Roger Sherman of Connecticut, 55 years old. A very successful merchant, a long time public official. Both feet firmly on the ground, shrewd and able. And Benjamin Franklin was on that drafting committee. Old Ben, 69 from Pennsylvania, a legend in his own time. Writter, author, inventor, he invented bifocals, you know. Statesmen, publisher, philosopher, scientist, educator, philanthropist, you name it, and Franklin was it. From Massachusetts, there was John Adams, only 41. In the full light of history, one of the most eminent of all Americans was Adams, forthright, impulsive, he was honest, and he was noble. The Atlas of American Independence. And the chairman of the committee picked almost by chance, chance we may say now guided by a divine hand. He was from Virginia, and he was but 33 years of age. Sandy-haired, slightly freckled, outstanding in politics, economics, agriculture, architecture, and science. His name is etched for all time, wherever freedom and liberty and the dignity of man are recognized. Thomas Jefferson. Well, the committee met, and as is the way with committees, three of them had other things to do. So the real work fell to Adams and Jefferson. Adams, much more experienced and the senior of the two, said to Jefferson, you should draft this document. Jefferson declined modestly. I'll give you three reasons, said Adams. Reason the first, you are a Virginian, and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason second, I am controversial and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. And reason third, you can write 10 times better than I can. That settled it. Young Thomas Jefferson was elected, shortly his talented pen settled to the task. We can imagine this sensitive young man, angry and resentful of the king, yet mature enough and wise enough to hold himself in check. He writes, he scratches out, he talks with Franklin, he talks with Adams, and he writes some more. And slowly, word by word, thought by thought, there evolves the noble majestic music of the Declaration of Independence. When in the course of human events, it's almost as if he's listening to the heartbeats of his people, so rhythmic, so stately as the cadence. When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and it gathers momentum like an eagle taking off from a mountain crag into the vastness of the sky. Then this tremendous statement, 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, and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. On July 1st, the Congress resumed its debate on Lee's resolution of independence. Farmer John Dickinson of Pennsylvania protested. What he said made much good sense. The colonists were unprepared to battle the mighty power of Britain. They could never hope to win. The cool logic of this cast a damper on the Congress. Then John Adams rose. Never an orator or easy with words, or once his lips were touched with fire, he had but one theme, the necessity for liberty. The warmth of his idealism galvanized the Congress to debate once more. Adams' stirring speech was punctuated by a passing summer storm with dramatic bolts of lightning and crashes of thunder. Finally on the 2nd of July, Congress agreed that there was no other course but to sever the ties that bound the colonies to the crown. Now, young Tom Jefferson's great document was introduced. The delegates wisely changed the line here, and the thought there. And on July 4th, 1776, they unanimously accepted the final form and began to append their signatures. They was cast. There was no retreat. Declaration was dispatched forthwith by mounted couriers to all the colonies. On July 5th, it was read aloud to the people of Philadelphia, and the famous old bell in the tower proclaimed liberty throughout the land. No need to tell you what this cracked old veteran is, but forgive me if I had a personal note. This is an old friend of mine, this bell. I've known it since I was this high. You see, I was born and raised almost within sight of this very building. These 2,000 pounds of our history began a long and useful career in the old state house in 1753. It had summoned the members of the Pennsylvania Colonial Assembly. The famous crack occurred much later when the bell told the death of Chief Justice John Marshall in 1836. Now here's the strange coincidence that should thrill all Americans to their very fiber. When the bell was first ordered back in 1751, specifications had called for a quotation from the Old Testament to be inscribed around its crown. Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. Our most famous and venerated symbol of patriotism, the Liberty Bell, which forever reminds us most forcefully of our sacred heritage. Another famous symbol of liberty, the capital dome in Washington. What it stands for is also part of the legacy bequeathed us by Jefferson and Adams and Franklin and Hancock and all that courageous band on the 4th of July in 76. Yes, the symbol of government of free men, strong and powerful, yet tender and solicitous toward those who seek its shelter, a government born of the Declaration of Independence. Yes, this is our heritage. Magnificent, isn't it? Larking far above our heads, the dome of this celebrated rotunda, the rotunda which is the very heart of our nation's capital. And where these paintings illustrate so dramatically our glorious history, the surrender of General Burgoyne at Saratoga. This signal, the first major defeat of the British was the turning point of the revolution. One of a series of paintings by the famous John Trumbull. Another Trumbull masterpiece. Great milestone in our history, the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781. This marked the end of the British cause in America. Our first president, George Washington, farmer, soldier, statesman, his faith in men, his love of liberty provided the very strength that pulsed the newborn nation. Trumbull's painting of a weary commander resigning his commission after leading his troops to victory. Soon after, grateful nation bestowed upon General Washington its highest honor, president of the New Republic. But this is the painting that interests us most now, the Declaration of Independence. There's the drafting committee presenting the great document to the president of the Congress, John Hancock. Artists Trumbull knew these men in events first hand and his familiarity is so convincingly expressed in his art, there's rugged John Adams. Roger Sherman, young Robert Livingston. There's the author, Jefferson in his gay red vest. And Ben Franklin, short in stature, but a giant among men. A great moment in history, the birth of our nation. And you know, our nation's capital city is rich in visible dividends from our precious heritage. I wonder what those delegates to the Continental Congress would have to say about this great capital city of ours. A monument to a government of free man. And was fully aware of every word in the Declaration of Independence. The date was 1861 and Abe Lincoln was on his way to the nation's capital for his first inauguration. He paused in Philadelphia long enough to say to a gathering at Independence Hall, I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence. It was the sentiment in that document which gave promise that in due time, the weight would be lifted from the shoulders of all men. In the distance, the White House, where Abraham Lincoln lived and worked. 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, a famous address. Home of our presidents, whose solemn oath of office dedicates their very lives to the preservation of our sacred heritage. This legacy, this magnificent inheritance has not been handed to us on a silver platter, not by a long shot. Price of liberty and freedom comes dear, very dear. When the chips are down, we are prepared always to defend these sacred principles upon which our nation was founded. The hope of our world rests on our faith and the destiny of our country. Through such faith, our forefathers built this country. It's been costly. Oh, so costly. There is scarcely been a period of time in all our history when our heritage has not been challenged and threatened. This dark and evil menace never ceases and we have never ceased to meet it. Our struggle for freedom and independence and that tragic winter at Valley Forge, the War of 1812, the Battle of New Orleans, for the first time the United States became really united. Francis Scott Key wrote the Star-Spangled Banner. 1946, our dispute with Mexico. Texas joins the union and our southern boundary is firmly established. A tragedy of the war between the states. Neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother. Our nation torn asunder. 1898, we were at war with Spain. Cuba, remember the main Havana Harbor in San Juan Hill. 1917, the yanks are coming and the world was going to be safe for democracy. It's in its gravest hour when the price of liberty was the lifeblood of our youth. Through this requiem of silence runs the mighty theme of the Declaration of Independence, voiced so eloquently by Thomas Jefferson, I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. But life goes on for the Republic, which those men of 1776 established. New generation follows old generation, less spring follows winter. Wonderful, isn't it? Just think, that tiny seed of freedom planted by our valiant forefathers has grown into a nation among nations. A nation which champions the dignity of man throughout the world. These trees were a gift to us from the people of Japan more than 50 years ago. Each spring, thousands of Americans flock to Washington just to admire their matchless beauty. We could stand here and wonder at one of the most thrilling sites we have ever had the privilege to behold. For over there, across the reflecting waters of the tidal basin, is the Jefferson Memorial. The stately and beautiful tribute paid to Jefferson by the American people for whom he did so much. The words of Jefferson proudly carved here on the walls of this shrine, words that will never die. But all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain their opinions and matters of religion. God who gave us life gave us liberty. I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. Thomas Jefferson, the great genius who gave us our heritage, the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson died on the 4th of July, 1826. 50 years to the day, almost to the hour, that he willed us our legacy. Thomas Jefferson lives forever in the hearts of free men.