Hmmm…

In observance of the signing of the Declaration of Independence 248 years ago, Tidbits shares the following quotes from George Washington and Thomas Jefferson on America's independence:

"The citizens of America, placed in the most enviable condition, as the sole lords and proprietors of a vast tract of continent, comprehending all the various soils and climates of the world and abounding with all the necessaries and conveniences of life, are now . . . acknowledged to be possessed of absolute freedom and independency." Ron Chernow, Washington: A Life, Penguin Books, 2010.

". . . All eyes are opened or opening to the rights of man. The general spread of the light of science has already laid open to every view the palpable truth, that the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few, booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately by the grace of God. These are the grounds of hope for others; for ourselves, let the annual return to this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them." David McCullough, John Adams, Simon & Schuster, 2001.