Abigail Berndt

Voice of Democracy

July 4, why is that such an important day? Independence Day is an important day because it is the day America’s forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence declaring us a free independent nation. The Declaration to America was a way to signify that we were now a free country and did not have to worry about fighting against other colonies. Instead we could now work together to make a peace agreement with Britain. This was the reason why our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence, to have a free country.

Our founding fathers were credited for many accomplishments. One of the most famous accomplishments was America’s Revolutionary generation, responsible for the successful war of colonial independence from Great Britain, which resulted in American’s Declaration of Independence. America had many founding fathers; seven of which were considered to be the most influential. These seven are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison. At the time Thomas Jefferson was only thirty-three years old when he wrote the declaration of independence. They wrote the Declaration to help wit the peace between all the nations.

Our forefathers’ visions for America was for everyone to have equal rights. They wanted to build a government that ensured peace, restricted central power to protect the rights on the citizens, and a healthy and free nation. An example of our forefathers vision was for America to be a place of freedom. The founding fathers promised us a home of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. With happiness they envision bipartisanship.

Back then they relied on messengers, letters and newspapers to know what was going on in their daily lives. In 1844 they came out with telegraphs to communicate over long distances using wires. Telegraphs transformed how wars were fought, how money was sent, and how newspapers did business. Approximately sixty years later the first radio came out. Then the latest invention came out, phones. Phones were and are the easiest way to communicate with people. These technological advancements have come a long way since the founding fathers time.

The forefathers intent was for everybody to have equal rights. One of the concerns the founding fathers had moving forward was loss of partisanship and the making of a new country was the power that could influence the young democracy. The forefathers decided to prevent this by making three separate branches of government. The three branches are Executive, Judicial, and Legislative so the government is equally divided. The founding fathers knew what they were doing because it was proved to be affected 250+ years later.

If the founding fathers could see America today they would be shocked with the further technological advancements, which includes all the communications happening online at our fingertips using truth social, twitter, facebook. Unfortunately these social platforms are abused on a regular basis stemming from false hoods amongst party lines.

Maggy Weller

Voice of Democracy

What do you think of when you picture our country today? Every single one of us may answer this differently than others. I believe our world isn’t what most people would like it to be. Millions of people have destroyed what our forefathers took so long to build, and if they were here today, most of them would agree that this is not the world it should be. I will further explain why I think this way, by showing what it would look like if we had better freedom, respect, and honesty.

First, for me, would be freedom. Freedom means being able to act, speak, or think without being restrained by others. The ability to say things you want to say or do influences our country’s need for freedom. For example, many wars are going on about things that we don’t need to be arguing about. Wars lead to disaster and heartbreak for everyone, whether you’re involved or not. There isn’t a point in there being deaths over a worthless battle. Humans need to be able to do things that they feel comfortable with. So we need to be aware of how we are speaking to others because we don’t want to come off sounding controlling.

Next, would be respect. Our forefathers wanted everyone to be respectful to others, even if we don’t get along with them. Respect can mean a lot of different things, such as being kind to soldiers, volunteering for others in need, or even making someone smile when they’re having a bad day. Understanding the importance of kindness is what others see you as. More people are going to want to be around you when they see you helping others, being happy, or just simply respecting others’ words and actions.

Lastly, for me would be, being honest and truthful to yourself. You may think that lying is the easy way out, but it won’t get you anywhere in life. To succeed in life you need to be honest with yourself and be honest with others in your life so that way you can enjoy your life’s memories. For example, if you tell your friends that you would be in a group with them, but then change your mind and go with someone else, that would be lying and would also be very disrespectful. It may be hard to tell someone that you don’t want to be in a group with them, but you never want to lie because they will always find out the truth even if you don’t tell them. So being honest is always the better way to go.

In conclusion, I believe that we need to do a better job at keeping our forefathers’ vision by improving freedom, respect, and honesty. Our country should be a safe place that people want to visit and to do that, we need to respect our forefathers. This is why I think this country is not what our forefathers would have wanted.