250 Years Of America

2026-07-04

I think 250 years ago the founders signed the declaration of independence. This is pretty cool, I live in America, I am very American. But other than just patriotism for the place I was born, which is kind of arbitrary, some of the ideals that the founders had were very cool, especially for the time. Here is the first (not very well quoted) part of the declaration of independence (source: https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript ):

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands…

It is interesting and I often forget there were only thirteen states (especially since I live in California not one of the original), and that we were a colony of England. The founded wanted to ‘dissolve the political bands’ and revolt. Ok and to the more quoted part:

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.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed

This is the good part that gets quoted, giving people unalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and the persuit of Happiness. Saying that the government should secure these rights for its people. Also that the government gets its powers from the consent of the governed. This is really cool and progressive for the time.

I also want to be balanced and say that things were not all rosy in 1776, there were a bunch of things going on, war, slavery. The civil war was still to come, all kinds of conflicts lurking in the future. Here is a quote from Thomas Jefferson from some notes (I looked this up on google, source: https://tjrs.monticello.org/letter/1314 )

Deep rooted prejudices entertained by the whites; ten thousand recollections, by the blacks, of the injuries they have sustained; new provocations; the real distinctions which nature has made … will divide us into parties, and produce convulsions which will probably never end but in the extermination of the one or the other race

In today’s light that is terrible and inexcusable and not true. The founders also said and did a bunch of ignorant stuff that we can’t ignore.

Ok and lastly a slightly lighter note to end on, they were also just normal human beings. They ate and pooped and stuff. They were cold sometimes and hot sometimes, I live a much more comfortable life than any of them did. I have AC and a car. And so it is fun for me to look at their human side, here is a recipe for hoecakes (pancakes) from George Washington (source: https://www.mountvernon.org/inn/recipes/article/paper-pancakes )

A few things stand out to me, it is so fun imaging the founder of our country (who was a farmer) ask his wife to make hoecakes for him. Also he puts nutmeg, egg yolks (no whites) heavy cream, and sherry into his pancakes? These are pretty different ingredients than today’s pancakes. Man, sherry in breakfast pancakes, he must have also served these to his kids. Also lastly he has orange-flower water, I have never heard of that but it seems awesome. After a long winter of fighting the British he must have appreciated coming home and having some hoecakes for breakfast.

-Gary