DATE: Friday, July 4, 1997                  TAG: 9707020190

SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 02   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: IDA KAY'S PORTSMOUTH 

SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan 

                                            LENGTH:   69 lines

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO AMERICA'S PATRIOTISM?

How many people know what happened on July 4 to make it a celebration day?

Although today is an important historical marker, most people mainly think of it as a day off.

It was on this date in 1776 that the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.

That's the document that reads:

``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.''

Even taken out of context, they're powerful words - and sometimes misconstrued words. The Declaration of Independence goes on to add that to secure these rights, governments are instituted by the people.

Sometimes we forget that the words apply to the people as a body, not merely to individuals. We want to believe that we can do whatever makes us happy without regard to the general good.

We get to thinking that the notion that all men are created equal means we don't have to do anything personally to attain parity.

The truth is that the only way any one of us can exercise the right of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is if all of us can.

There's no doubt that one person's pursuit often steps all over another person's pursuit, one person's exercise of freedom interferes with another's freedom.

``I have a right to . . .'' is a phrase we hear more and more on an individual level. Often two people taking that attitude wind up on a collision course and somebody gets hurt as both advance personal rights.

Most of us forget the fact that one person's ``rights'' end where another person's ``rights'' begin.

As for equality, it's not simple. Everybody born Aug. 14, 1975, came into the same world, but that is where their guarantee of equality ends. Where they are today depends on what they've done with what was handed them.

How often I hear people putting down the notions on which this country was founded, making fun of patriotic events, including July 4 celebrations.

Sure, they like the day off, the fireworks, cookouts, days at the beach - all the things we do on this holiday. But they don't think about the reason.

Many years ago, patriotic oratory was standard fare on July 4. Today there is little audience for such stuff. That's a pity.

Thinking back over the years to childhood, I can remember swelling up with pride over ``my'' country when I heard some of the speakers spiel out their words on Independence Day. That was a good influence on young people. If we were proud of the country, we believed in it. If we believed in it, we worked for its betterment.

My grandparents lived in Edenton, home of Joseph Hewes, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. I was just a little tyke when I asked about Hewes after reading a historical plaque. I was fascinated with the notion that he probably had walked in the same places I was walking in when he came home from the Continental Congress sessions in Philadelphia. I liked to think the ancient, gnarled trees in St. Paul's Episcopal churchyard across the street from my grandparents' house had been there when Hewes was around. I wanted to be linked to the people who founded this country. It was exciting.

Portsmouth wans't home to any of the signers, but it does have a lot of Revolutionary history. For one thing, it had a number of prominent residents who sympathized with the British. It also had a lot of revolutionaries. And it was directly involved with some of the Revolutionary War battles.

Maybe if we talked a little more about our long and illustrious local history, we could feel more connected to the patriots who helped create this nation. A little knowledge of them not only would help us draw tourists to the area, it also could help create a positive feeling about the community.

Now, who'll be the first to start up the oratory again? Let's make July 4, 1998, one to remember.

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