Happy 241st Birthday, America!

I had the opportunity last Fall to visit Philadelphia for the first and see the room where the Continental Congress met and passed the Declaration of Independence. It was certainly awe-inspiring to be in the room where the Founders passed one of the greatest documents in the history of Western Civilization. You could feel the history. That’s when I took the main photo for this article.

Last year, for our Independence Day post, we reprinted the Declaration of Independence in its entirety. It seemed appropriate. After all, if the Founders had the Internet, it likely would have been published on a blog somewhere and it would have gone viral, at least in the original thirteen colonies.

But, the internet, obviously, didn’t exist in 1776.

And, so, about two hundred of copies were printed by printer John Dunlap and disseminated throughout the American colonies. As would have been the case in the day, the town crier would have read it aloud in the public square.

And while reading the text itself is powerful, it’s even more powerful in my opinion to hear it read aloud.

That’s why, for America’s 241st birthday, we present the following video of a reading of the Declaration of Independence.

Extremely powerful stuff.

Joe Piechowski

Let freedom ring!