Happy 4th of July… kinda. If you’re an American, this is the day that you’re supposed to celebrate our nation becoming what it is today. Instead, I’m writing a blog post. Day 4’s prompt: Tell us what independence means to you. Well, that’s not a loaded question if there ever was one.
So, as I like to do in these instances, I’ll start off with the dictionary definition and go from there. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, independence is: the quality or state of being independent. Cleared that right up. Let’s look up independent: not dependent. Wow, guys… we are wording today! Breaking out the shovel and digging further, we get to dependent: relying on another for support -or- subject to another’s jurisdiction. There are other definitions, but I think these’ll be good for the original question.
As we learn in U.S. History (at least, we’re supposed to), England first began colonizing the Americas in 1607. We gained our independence in 1775. *brain smokes from math* That’s 168 years. Today, we’re celebrating 242 years of independence. That is one single generation longer as a country, than before. Sitting here thinking that we’ve been the United States of America only 74 years longer than we were colonies under England… is odd.
So, what does independence mean to me?
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