I, Richard Henry Lee, was born in Virginia on the 20th day of January in the year 1732.
I was a member of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in the summer of 1776.
On June 7, 1776, i proposed the following resolution:
Resolved: that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be totally dissolved.
We members of the Continental Congress passed this resolution on July 2, 1776, the birthdate of American Independence.
We then discussed and edited the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson and his committee. The most substantial change was the regrettable removal of a condemnation of the slave trade. The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776.
When the Constitutional Convention was held in 1787, i refused to attend. I opposed this attempt to create a strong central government.
I served in the Senate from 1789 to 1792, and I helped create the Bill of Rights -- the first ten amendments to the constitution.
Most history books say that i died on June 19, 1794; however most history books are wrong. Upon cessation of my vital functions, i was preserved in a large cask of Madeira wine by the Madeira Society. And, thanks to the Society, i have been successfully reanimated, and am enjoying once again a full and vigorous life, most particularly enjoying the spectacular company of my dear beloved wife Candie, who was also preserved and reanimated by the society.
On July 2, 2001, Candie and i publicly proposed the Organic Rebirth of American Communities Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.
Why July 2nd?
Because July 2nd is the anniversary of American independence.
Indeed, at that time, my friend John Adams wrote, in a letter to his wife:
"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore."
It is my hope that July 2nd will serve as a holiday to imagine, discuss, enact, and celebrate the political decentralization of our beloved United States of America.
Candie and i invite you to join us in supporting the Organic Rebirth of American Communities Amendment.