00:00Today we celebrate 250 years of America facing the future without fear.
00:06We celebrate 250 years of proving what a free people can achieve by the providence of our
00:14almighty creator.
00:15It is a very American thing to ring in 250 years of American history by parading our
00:22naval and air force might for the world to see.
00:25But I can't help but consider that 250 years ago, the waters of New York Harbor looked
00:32very, very different.
00:34While the Continental Congress met in Philadelphia to ratify the Declaration of Independence,
00:40General Washington was right here in Manhattan, peering out on this beautiful land and beautiful
00:47sea.
00:48His attention was fixed on the horizon, watching for sails of the most powerful Navy on Earth.
00:58One week before, the British had begun landing troops on Staten Island and they had landed
01:0432,000 in just over six weeks.
01:09One colonist still in the city recounted it seemed as if all of London was afloat and
01:15heading to the new nation.
01:18War was coming and everyone knew it.
01:22By July of 1776, 80% of New York's population had emptied out in anticipation of the coming
01:29violence and that brings us back to our great General Washington.
01:35He knew the battles to come would be bruising and would demand much of his men.
01:42But they needed to know, through hot summers and cold winters, exactly what they were being
01:48asked to fight for.
01:49And so, just a few days after the Declaration of Independence was signed, George Washington
01:56read aloud the words of the incredible Declaration.
02:01We hold these truths to be self-evident.
02:05That all men are created equal.
02:07That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.
02:12And that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
02:19Even today, 250 years to the day later, these words command a tremendous power over us as
02:28Americans.
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