Independence Day

In the movie Independence Day, Will Smith kills a bunch of aliens who attack the United States with giant killer UFOs. There are quite a few good one-liners and some awesome action sequences, but no one remembers any of those; they only remember the scene where the White House is blown to smithereens, and if they're old enough, they remember how everyone in the theater cheered at that moment.

That's the kind of independence most people are after these days—freedom from law, not freedom under law. What they seem to forget is that the Founding Fathers weren't a bunch of anarchists who simply wanted to do whatever they wanted without England butting in. The Founding Fathers only wanted England to treat the U.S. equitably as part of the British monarchy.

When England essentially refused to do so, the American Patriots decided to take matters into their own hands. Yes, there were other prominent motives for throwing off the yoke of English rule, most of them economic, but ideologically the Revolution was fuelled by a desire for a national government that was answerable to the people and inherently limited in scope and sovereignty.

Over the years, the United States have drifted away from the initial ideals of men like Madison, Jefferson and Adams. That doesn't mean we don't enjoy basically the same model of government they set up, and it certainly doesn't mean that we've lost any significant amount of liberties. We remain a checked-and-balanced nation that values freedom and responsibility, and we celebrate it every July 4th.

Sure, we still remember the formation of our country, the signing of the Declaration of Independence and all that. But nearly two and a half centuries later, the celebration of Independence Day is less about the origins of our nation than it is about its continuing commitment to liberty, freedom of conscience, and justice at home and around the world.

None of us at Exodus Books are flag-waving fanatics, nor do we support everything the U.S. does or stands for. Wars on foreign soil may or may not be justified, and as a nation we've certainly turned from biblical morality toward reprobate license. At the same time, the fact that we can worship Christ on Sunday without fear, preach His name to others, and still vote when the time comes is reason enough to light off some fireworks and eat fried chicken at the beginning of each summer.

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13 Colonies: Georgia
by Roberta Wiener and James R. Arnold
from Raintree
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in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
American Revolution
Landmark Series
by Bruce Bliven
from Random House
Historical Non-fiction for 5th-8th grade
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B. Franklin, Printer
by David A. Adler
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Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
Landmark Series
by Margaret Cousins
from Random House
Biography for 5th-8th grade
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Black Heroes of the American Revolution
by Burke Davis
1992 Odyssey Classics edition from Clarion Books
for 5th-8th grade
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Black Man in America
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Cobblestone Magazine: Thomas Jefferson
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Declaration of Independence
History Speaks
by Douglas M. Rife
from Teaching & Learning Company
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DK Eyewitness: American Revolution
by Stuart Murray
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Drums
by James Boyd
from Atheneum
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Exploration, Revolution, and Constitution
American History Series
by Cindy Barden
from Mark Twain Media
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$7.50 (1 in stock)
Far Frontier
by William O. Steele; illustrated by Paul Galdone
from Harcourt
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Fight for Freedom
by Benson Bobrick
1st edition from Atheneum
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Fighting Ground
by Avi
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General Washington's Army
by Marko Zlatich, Illustrated by Peter F. Copeland
2003 Printing from Osprey Publishing
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George Washington's World (pictorial hardcover)
by Genevieve Foster
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$38.00 (1 in stock)
George Washington: Soldier and Man
by North Callahan
from William Morrow & Company
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Give Me Liberty!
by Russell Freedman
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Guns for General Washington
by Seymour Reit
from Harcourt
Historical fiction for 4th-8th grade
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Haym Salomon: Liberty's Son
by Shirley Milgrim, illustrated by Richard Fish
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Hero Tales
by Theodore Roosevelt & Henry Cabot Lodge
from Cumberland House
Biography for 7th-10th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
History of US Book 3
History of US Book 3
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
in History of US (Location: HISA-HAKIM)
$15.95 $11.00 (1 in stock)
Interactive Notebook: The American Revolution
American History Series
by Schyrlet Cameron
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Jack Wade, Fighter for Liberty
A Doubleday Signal Book
by Irving Werstein, illustrated by Albert Orbaan
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John Paul Jones
Sterling Point Books
by Armstrong Sperry
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Biography for 5th-9th grade
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Liberty or Death
by Margaret Whitman Blair
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Life & Times of Washington
by Mario Rivoire, translated by C.J. Richards
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Biography for 8th-12th grade
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Life of Washington
by Josephine Pollard
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List
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Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence
by Benson J. Lossing
3rd Printing from WallBuilder Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
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Midshipman Bolitho
by Alexander Kent
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My Brother Sam Is Dead
by James & Christopher Collier
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Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1975 Newbery Honor Book
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My Brother Sam Is Dead
by James & Christopher Collier
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1975 Newbery Honor Book
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Real Book about George Washington
by Harold Coy, illustrated by Elinore Blaisdell
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Revolutionary War
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Revolutionary War: America's Fight for Freedom
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1983 Printing from National Geographic
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Rush Revere and the American Revolution
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Rush Revere and the First Patriots
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Sarah Bishop
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Soldiers of the American Revolution
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Squalls Before War
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Story of the Declaration of Independence
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Struggle for Sea Power
Story of the World Series #4
by M. B. Synge
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Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold
by Jean Fritz
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War Comes to Willy Freeman
by James Lincoln Collier, Christopher Collier
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Way of Eagles
by Clifford Lindsey Alderman
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Yankee Doodle Boy
by Joseph Martin
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Yankee Doodle Boy
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Year of the Hangman
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