This is a famous painting by John Trumbull of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, completed in 1819. It hangs in the US Capitol. I’ve included an edit of the painting by Arlen Parsa for reasons that I will explain later.
On July 4, 1776, these men made it known to the world that they were no longer a part of the British Empire. In 1763, many of them helped defeat the French and their Indian allies in a war partially about controlling the Ohio River Valley. The men in this painting wanted that land; George Washington himself speculated on thousands of acres there. When that war ended in 1763, however, the British told the Americans they couldn’t move to the Ohio River Valley. Moreover, the British told those Americans they were going to have to help pay for the war as well. Adding even more motivation for the Americans to separate from Britain were recent court decisions in that country that hinted that slavery and British ideals could no longer coexist.
As a nation, the US has done a wonderful job promulgating the idea that on July 4, 1776, they built a country based on ideas of universal freedom. Not true. They created a country that protected the ability of the wealthy to continue to steal land from indigenous people and enslave other people. A red dot indicates a slaveholder. Clearly, these people did not believe in universal freedom.
What they created was a country where capitalism would trump all other concerns. The profit motive was king. And it still is. Freedom and democracy have never been a priority to this country. It is all about power and money. When you realize this fact, nothing will surprise you anymore.
I am not surprised that voter suppression is thriving, corporate profits are soaring, inflation routinely makes wage slaves of us all, half the country just lost their freedom with the dismantling of Roe, the state legislatures and the Supreme Court are quietly making it so that elections can be more easily stolen, we have the highest incarceration rate in the world and it isn’t even close, gun violence is at an all time high and rising, and the Earth may soon be unlivable because profits outweigh life itself.
People often clutch their pearls when they see one group or another lose their freedom and rights, or when some undemocratic policy or law is enacted. But when you realize that it’s always been this way; that “freedom” and “democracy” are just words the powerful use to pacify us, you aren’t surprised anymore. Study the history of this country and you’ll realize that it is functioning in the dysfunctional way it was designed.
But there is hope. I dare say, though, that the hope cannot be found in emulating the men in this painting. Follow the example of the men not here. The Black men and women who were outside, in the hot Philadelphia sun, dreaming and plotting for true universal freedom. Emulate the Indigenous people, who stood firm and resisted encroachment on their land, and raised arms against their actual oppressors.
The men in the painting may very well have felt they were being oppressed, but at the same time they oppressed others in even more dreadful ways. And when the wealthy men in this painting won their war for independence, they oppressed their fellow countrymen and women even more.
All gains that people have made in this country have been by resisting people like Washington, Jefferson, and Patrick Henry; by resisting Roger B. Taney, Lincoln, and Andrew Johnson; by resisting Woodrow Wilson, Richard Russell, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and on and on.
It is okay to celebrate the Fourth of July. I will celebrate my desire to see what this country has yet to become: a country of universal freedom. But when I toast today, it won’t be to George Washington. How could I? Old George would have enslaved me!!
No. I’m toasting to Nat Turner and John Brown and Crazy Horse and Queen Mother Moore and King and Chavez and all the other true freedom fighters. They didn’t fight for a flag or some warped sense of nationalism. They fought for freedom. For everyone.
They tell me July 4 is a day to celebrate freedom. Okay. I do that. I just do it differently.
502Patrick Lapid, Lily Ann B. Villaraza and 500 others
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- Kirin Amiling MacapugayThis is perfect, Don M. Dumas. I’m sharing the hell out of it.
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- Danielle RogersWELL stated!
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- Diane Dumas AbellaI shared. You may go viral, be warned.
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- Antionette WestryI love and agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY with EVERY word spoken in this post! Awesome post and a MUST read for all ESPECIALLY black and brown Americans.
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- David ValentaWould be interesting to see this angle more fleshed out by documents, letters, etc in a researched format, vs the condensed editorialized version shown here.Recovering actual history from there textbook writers should happen, all for accuracy; I’m in favor of that..
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- Linda DockensI am sick to my stomach sick at what I just read HOW DARE YOU DISHONOR THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THIS COUNTRY WERE THE FOUNDING FATHERS PERFECT NOT BY LONG SHOT DID THIS NATION DO RIGHT BY EVERYONE WHO HAS AND DOES LIVE HERE NO BUT WE … See more
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- Donna RoseAll of that!
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- Carlos Vasquez1776 happened because of the case of “Somerset vs. Stewart”. But, they don’t teach this in school. Why?
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- Pj ZiveMeh… that perspective is just one of many, and probably no more nor any less accurate than others.Washington et al threw off the yoke of colonialism, only to fashion new ones to place on others. This tends to be the repeating history of civilization.
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- John StumpIt is all true and nice too be so pampered, fed, and free to be able to say it.
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- EA LoveThank you for sharing this, Don M. Dumas. I deeply appreciate your perspective.
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- Sheryl SanchezAbsolutely f**ckn LOVE this
. You speak truth so eloquently. 
Lali and I were just discussing these very issues around this day.3
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- Miguel Dawson
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- James CabanThank You for this wonderful history lesson. I wish I had learned it in school.
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- James FosterThis is so right on point
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- Kimberly DrKim Chandler
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- Bobby GarlandJuly 4th is a white men holiday. Not made for women or men of other races. Dont buy into the hype of this propagandist holiday folks.
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- Stacie GuerinUh yeah no
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- Steven ZumbrunThey still thought of themselves as “superior” beings bringing enlightenment to the “savages” (i.e., people of color and indigenous people). In their souls they were just as dedicated to colonialism as the British they broke away from. They just called it a new name.
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- Luke DunnFeels
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- Danielle WrightLove it
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- Sandra Ginsburg AnjardI am a white grandmother (but a minority religion) and l agree 100%
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- Peter MartinWell said, but the people you are talking about are the same people who have been in politics for 50 plus yrs. People who should be retired and enjoying their retirement. Only reason why they didn’t is because they’re the people who were put into pol… See more
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- Jesse JamesWho were the non red dots? The Quakers in the room?
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- Christina Shugart EudyWell stated!
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- Christopher WalshThere are different times and things going on and we all grow but nevertheless that man gave you the freedom you have today! He gave us all the freedom that we have today without him you wouldn’t have any of this! Take him out of the equation and many … See more
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- Mike BuntynChristopher, while flawed, the principles of the Enlightenment would not have been spread or flourished without these men. Your statement is too far reaching with context. I will still admire Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Franklin, flawed as they were.
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- Macario RamirezIts always good to remember the world is never black and white. Some will say nay to this article but that’s like saying they founders we’re perfect.
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- Susan MannThus great!
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- Susan MannExcellent!
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- Kevin LourensNope, no universal freedom here. As it seems to be the case with all bourgeois revolutionaries.Not with Bolívar in Colombia, not with Robespierre and the Committee of Safety in France, and not even with Lourverture in Haiti who was willing to keep sl… See more
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- Angie DeniseTatia Gaines you see this?
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- Diana CarpioI needed this today. Thank you
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- Emma LarsonFor the curious. I also did a quick Wikipedia search of the men not pictured, and crossed any noted slave owners off. (Lyman Hall bought a plantation at the end of his life, so I assume he counts.) The ones not crossed off I don’t know for sure though.… See more
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- Charles BelekisLet rationalizing and justifying begin…the American exceptionalism brain washing is too deeply embedded.
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- Cane RalloSo much garbage to unpack here…
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- Neil Rest
In 1776 you were ruled by a king, put on the throne by God.These men staked their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor on our being able to govern ourselves. That proposition was so radical that when Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address it was stil… See more- Like
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- Drew NewellWhy is America blamed for slavery when it was instituted by the British?
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- Jack LindbladWell said, Don.We hold the promise of our collective selves to wage the two revolutions to end capitalism. … See more
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- William HackworthThank you for sharing. Many people do not and they Prove they desire not the Truth. To point to Africa is just ignorant. This is about America claiming FREEDOM.
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- Paul PhelpsDrops
….BoomWell said !!!!!- Like
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- Janice D LombardiWow. I just saw the Soldiers Cemetery at Gettysburg (where Union soldiers are buried) and I daresay they were not capitalists nor slave owners, but those who fought to preserve the Union. Why do you trash all of American history because of your opinion… See more
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- Andrew SmithDon’t you think it’s a bit contradictory to bemoan rising gun violence while at the same time advocating that people emulate those who took up arms against their oppressors?
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- Kena DrumgoWhere was this gem yesterday when I needed it?Thank you, Don, for assembling all the bits and pieces into a complete narrative.… See more
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- Robert M DeemsDon’t Forget that Abe Lincoln knew all about an early 5-0 Supreme Court Decision that, just 1 of the numerous times in US History overstepped the Case in Front of them, that Decided that Slavery was Constitutional, because there was nothing in the Cons… See more
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- Nassim MazanUSA has never ever been a free country other than the 1% who OWN the other 99%. Almost all those men in that painting were either freemasons or in some form an Anglo Saxon Aristocrat. USA has provided massive amounts of funds & manpower for British imp… See more
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- Roland ColemanPreach on.
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- Gerry StaackWe live in a country created were capitalism triumps all other concern. That is why nothing society wants gets passed in Congress.
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- George HillaryI agree my way
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- John WilsonJames P. Cannon on Independence DayFrom Karl Marx to the Fourth of July… See more
WSWS.ORGFrom Karl Marx to the Fourth of JulyFrom Karl Marx to the Fourth of July- Like
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