Today is the anniversary of a fascinating day in American history.
On June 11th, 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed "The Committee of Five" to draft a declaration justifying independence from Great Britain.
The five members entrusted with this momentous task were Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston.
Often overlooked is just how heavy this occasion weighed on all of them. Each were proud British subjects that loved the heritage and history they inherited. However, they knew that they could not go in the direction that Britain was going.
The grievances were identifying where the King and Country had been the one's to abandon British law and British culture. They grounded the issues in things that all British subjects could understand and relate to.
It was the first "I didn't leave you, you left me" speech in Western society. These men expressed how much this hurt to write, but that duty itself demanded it.
You see, with rights comes duty. You cannot have one without the other. If we value our rights, then WE have the duty to preserve them.
This is why one of the very men on this original Committee of Five, John Adams famously told us that we have "A Republic if YOU can keep it."
The duty is ours. Duty is not always easy. Often times, it's sacrificial. It costs us. It sure cost them.
Today, I ask that you join me in remembering the day that DUTY outweighed loyalty and that without that courage, we would not exist as a free Nation today.