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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1776
by David McCullough
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Abigail Adams
A Discovery Book
by Helen Stone Peterson, illustrated by Betty Fraser
from Garrard Publishing Company
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Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr
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by Russel & Anna Crouse
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America During Four Wars
by Earl Schenck Miers & Felix Sutton
from Grosset & Dunlap
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America in the Time of George Washington
by Sally Senzell Isaacs
from Heinemann Library
for 3rd-6th grade
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America's Ethan Allen
by Stewart H. Holbrook; illustrated by Lynd Ward
9th printing from Houghton Mifflin
Picture Book Biography for 4th-6th grade
1950 Caldecott Honor Book
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
American Children Through Their Books
by Sister Monica Kiefer
1970 printing from University of Pennsylvania Press
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
American Heritage History of the American Revolution
by Bruce Lancaster
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
American Revolution
Landmark #83
by Bruce Bliven, Jr.
from Random House
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American Story: The Revolutionaries
Time-Life: The American Story
from Time-Life Books
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Answering the Cry for Freedom
by Gretchen Woelfle, Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
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$19.99
Apostle of Liberty
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Biography for 9th-Adult
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Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
World's Greatest Literature
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Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
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Childhood of Famous Americans
by Ann Weil, illustrated by Al Fiorentino
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Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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Black Man in America
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Declaration of Independence with Short Biographies of its Signers
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George Washington
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Gingerbread for Liberty!
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Give Me Liberty
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Great Little Madison
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Hessian
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History of Human Society: Pioneer America
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How and Why Wonder Book of the American Revolution
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Jack Wade, Fighter for Liberty
A Doubleday Signal Book
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John Hancock
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John Paul Jones
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John Paul Jones
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John Paul Jones
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1960 Biography Pulitzer Prize
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John Paul Jones
Heroes of the Revolution
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Johnny Tremain
Illustrated American Classics
by Esther Forbes
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Historical Fiction/Adventure for 3rd-10th grade
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Johnny Tremain
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Justin Morgan Had a Horse
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Justin Morgan Had a Horse
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1st edition from Rand McNally
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Justin Morgan Had a Horse
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Lafayette!
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Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill
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Liberty or Death
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Life & Times of Washington
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Biography for 8th-12th grade
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Life & Times of Washington
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Biography for 8th-12th grade
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Life and Letters of Benjamin Franklin
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Life in Early America
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Life of Washington
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Light and the Glory 1492-1793
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Revised Expanded from Revell Publishing
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Love Thy Neighbor
Dear America
by Ann Turner
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Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
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Marquis de Lafayette
World Landmark #34
by Hodding Carter
from Random House
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Meggy MacIntosh
by Elizabeth Janet Gray, illustrated by Marguerite de Angeli
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1931 Newbery Honor Book
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Military Buttons of the American Revolution
by Don Troiani, photographs by Michael O'Donnell, foreword by James Kochan
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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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Nathan Hale
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Noah Webster: Father of the American Dictionary
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One Dead Spy
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #1
by Nathan Hale
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$14.99
Our Independence and the Constitution
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Patriots' Gold
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