Each Fourth of July, America celebrates the birth of our great nation and our independence with backyard barbeques and fireworks everywhere, but if you watch the news or follow social media, it’s reasonable to wonder if Americans still know what we are celebrating. It appears the Federal Government champions a nation without borders or essentially no nation at all, because they stridently strive to dismantle our Constitutional Republic in order to usher the United States into globalism and international rule. According to mainstream media and pop culture, America is not about liberty, but rather about license to indulge unchained depravity and transgender tyranny in order to impose the militant LGBTQ+ agenda on unwilling Americans in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

While our arrogant ruling elite in business, entertainment, and government have lost any grasp on what America stands for, or perhaps they just fervently wish to end our traditional values, average Americans still cherish freedom. They may not be able to expound on its virtues, but they intrinsically know liberty is vital and it was purchased at great cost by our forefathers. A rough and tumble lot, Americans bore great hardships and sacrificed selflessly to earn freedom over centuries, so they won’t let it slip away without a fight.

Historically, long suffering and slow to anger, Americans are a fiercely independent people who have become accustomed to freedom, so when provoked or threatened they are dauntless and dogged in protecting liberty. The current incessant assaults on freedom are dire and perhaps seem hopeless, but Americans have been here before. In fact, the United States was wrought out of opposition to tyranny.

The American Revolution was not precipitated overnight. Americans endured almost two decades of oppression and usurpations by England before they finally realized their only choices were interminable servitude or to fight for the freedoms they enjoyed.

The French and Indian War nearly bankrupted Great Britain, so at its close, England sought to replenish their treasury with the 1763 American Revenue Act taxing colonial molasses and sugar. The 1765 Stamp Act followed and singled out the American colonies with a requirement that every American document must have a British Stamp. Parliament also determined defending against Indians was too expensive, so they closed the frontier to further settlement.

Americans vehemently objected to “taxation without representation” and restrictions on their freedom of movement. The Colonies demanded representation in Parliament and boycotted British goods until those laws were repealed in 1766, but Parliament passed even more onerous taxes with the 1767 Townsend Acts and denied Americans any representation. Americans today are no different. Introduce a new tax or a tax hike and Americans will rise up.

The Colonies asked to have their grievances addressed, but they were rebuffed by the Crown and Parliament. Despite American efforts to reconcile with England, the conflict intensified and came to a head after the Boston Tea Party in December 1774. Weary of the New England insubordination, King George III sent British troops to Lexington and Concord in April 1775 to disarm the growing American militias. The Americans were not about to surrender their arms and refused. Someone fired a shot and battle broke out—the Colonies were at war with the mother country. Again, Americans are no different today. We jealously guard our Second Amendment right to bear arms.

King George III was undeterred and unmoved. He declared martial law in New England in May 1774. Parliament quickly sought to clamp down on the American rebellion with the “Coercive Acts,” or known in the colonies as the “Intolerable Acts.” This series of laws prohibited freedom of assembly and speech in Massachusetts, stripped the Massachusetts legislature of any authority, and put the Massachusetts judiciary under direct British control. These draconian measures unified most Americans in outrage and solidified the sentiment for independence. And again, modern Americans are no different. They chaff at censorship even on social media and loathe federal intrusion.

Just like during the American Revolution when about a third of Americans were loyal to the crown and willing to accept dictatorial servitude, about a third of Americans today embrace socialism and are willing to sacrifice liberty for security. The crown underestimated the American fervor for freedom. American colonists had conquered a wilderness continent largely on their own and had been left to govern themselves, so they enjoyed greater freedoms than the average British subject.

Accustomed to freedom for over a century, the American colonists went even further by establishing in our Declaration of Independence and eventually enshrining in our Constitution that our freedom was based on our God-given rights. That concept was the real revolution by asserting that every citizen was sovereign and “endowed with certain inalienable rights by our Creator.”

An irresistible and powerful axiom, it still seduces Americans with the firm belief we are each born free and don’t like to be told what to do. Therefore, Americans then and now will stubbornly uphold their rights to preserve freedom. It was ugly then and it’s ugly now, but leftists trying to subjugate Americans will learn what the British Crown learned then, Americans will not relent. Americans only need follow the example of our founding fathers and turn to God for our blessings, and we will prevail against this latest onslaught of tyranny.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

Pete Riehm is a conservative activist and columnist in south Alabama. Email him at peteriehm@bellsouth.net or read all his columns at http://www.renewamerica.com/.