The Declaration of Independence

'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.'

I am so glad I didn't return to Connecticut yesterday. I was going to, rationalising that I had seen what I came to see, and really wanted to spend time with Lucas. I find myself saying these words to myself in a sort of Southern American accent. I don't know why. Perhaps it's because I spent yesterday morning on a sightseeing bus with American commentary, or last night at a play called 1776.
'The bus leaves from the front of the hotel at nine, and then every hef awer' said the helpful receptionist. First stop, Union Station. At the time it was built, the largest and grandest in the World. I think Grand Central beats it hands down, but that was at the time. I hopped off and had breakfast, and took in the atmosphere. Not terribly busy, but I had missed rush hour, and lots of renovations. I ate in the cafe and would give it a bare 'average'. Then the Red Bus route.
I'll try to remember the highlights, but there were so many of them. Lots of museums [or is it musea?] and if part of the Smithsonian legacy then entry is free. Lots and lots of memorials, including the Lincoln memorial and to all the different wars the Americans have been in. The reflecting pool, I found out, was being repaired to stop it leaking, and the whole of the National Mall was being re-done to improve soil drainage and the cultivation of a lawn. The Washington Memorial had recently suffered as a result of an earth tremor, and so was also being checked over too. It wouldn't look good if that fell down.
The city was designed by a French born gentleman called L'Enfant. He must have still been a child when he came to America. He is buried at Arlington Cemetery on high ground, so he can overlook the city he planned out. We went there later and it is quite moving to see the rows and rows of white tomb stones. To get there we have to cross the Potomac river after going round the Tidal Basin to which it connects. Although my children groan, I do think this sort of tour bus is a good way of getting an overview, literally, of a big city.

I got off the bus for lunch. Wandering around I came across a handful of tents, camped out in Mc Pherson Square. They looked pretty hippyish with anarchist literature in a shabby looking orning, and books which people could 'please borrow and return them for others to use'. The sun was warm. Three people were talking 'to camera'. No one else was there. The 'Occupy McPherson Square' movement, was obviously having a day off. It is Good Friday after all. They were probably all at church.

In the evening I took a walk around. I came across a queue of people outside the Ford's Theatre. They were waiting for a play, 1776, to begin. It was too early to eat so I paid my $70 and took my seat near the front of a packed theatre. I had forgotten my glasses, but it didn't make much difference in the end.
I didn't know too much about the Declaration of Independence, only tit-bits I'd picked up randomly, and I don't know how historically accurate this play was. It turned out to be a rather amusing musical version. Mercifully the songs were few. The acting was quite good and appropriately funny when it was meant to be. It was good to see the various characters come to life

I hadn't appreciated the political in fighting, compromises, and alliances that went on. For instance, I didn't know that Pennsylvania  through their leader John Dickinson, were such loyalists to the Crown. Benjamin Franklin, the older gouty statesman was there, also from Pennsylvania. So was our previous hero John Adams, the Massachusetts agitator; Thomas Jefferson, newly wed and reluctant author; John Hancock, congressional leader; and Roger Sherman from our own Connecticut, amongst others.

For more, if interested, see italics below:
'The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forard a resolution earlier in the year which made a formal declaration inevitable. A committee was assembled to draft the declaration, to be ready when congress voted on independence. Adams persuaded the committee to select Thomas Jefferson to compose the original draft of the document, which congress would edit to produce the final version. The Declaration was ultimately a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The Independence Day of the United States of America is celebrated on July 4, the day Congress approved the wording of the Declaration.
After ratifying the text on July 4, Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in several forms. It was initially published as a printed broadside that was widely distributed and read to the public. The most famous version of the Declaration, a signed copy that is usually regarded as the Declaration of Independence, is displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D C. Although the wording of the Declaration was approved on July 4, the date of its signing has been disputed. Most historians have concluded that it was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed. The original July 4 United States Declaration of Independence manuscript was lost while all other copies have been derived from this original document.
The sources and interpretation of the Declaration have been the subject of much scholarly enquiry. The Declaration justified the independence of the United States by listing colonial grievances against King George III, and by asserting certain natural and legal rights, including a right of revolution'.

The Declaration avoided the issue of slavery, in order to get the Southern Staes on board. This stored up trouble and lead, in the end, to the bloody Civil War. They abolished slavery almost a century later under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln, a Republican. Of course, he got assassinated for his troubles, but lives on in those words of the Founding Fathers.

So now it's back to Connecticut and Lucas. I'm glad I stayed the extra day. I understand the Americans much better now. They had a point. If only they had lived up to their high ideals better. I guess they're only human. We all make pledges and declarations, and fail to live up to them.

God bless America.