Our Fathers' Voice

I've been reading a lot of other bloggers today, looking for some sort of inspiration for my own post on our nation's birthday.
Some posts have the Declaration of independence for all to read. Some are pouncing on the shortfalls of our current administration (real and imagined). Some are complaining about the complainers. I see dejection in some and anger in others. A few are giving shout-outs to our troops overseas and some to the ones who served in the past. I see mentions of our founding fathers, and also theories of what they meant, and how they would view our world today.
I hear voices of dissent and disappointment mixed with voices of pride and defiance pitched a little too loud. Most of what I write is going to be opinionated. Some things will be outright raving. I'll even throw in a little history now and then (skewed to my own beliefs, of course). This will be no different.
This is a world full of strife, the same as it was 229 years ago. Political turmoil is nothing new. Bad news is the same, we just get it faster now, and with more vivid detail. It's a world of fear and hate and anger, of war and racial injustices, of hard work for unseen gains. The men who forged this nation were men of belief and conscience, but I'm sure that none of them imagined a utopia by the year 2005. I'd imagine what they hoped for was a generation willing to fight to keep freedom alive. They provided for us a playbook, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to give us the tools and the guidance to uphold a dream. Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. No one promised you anything but a chance.
Now, I'm going to let these men speak in their own words, words that don't call for any interpretation:

"Yes we did produce a (constitutional) republic. But will they keep it, or will they in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the (sure) path of destruction!" Concern from Thomas Jefferson about human nature

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace; we ask not your console or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands that feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countryman" Samuel Adams - 1776

"A nation of well informed men who have been taught to know the price the rights which God has given them, cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." Benjamin Franklin 1706 – 1790

"He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself." ~Thomas Paine

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin 1706 - 1790

"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." ~Thomas Paine

"The Constitution [shall] be never construed to ... prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms." -Samuel Adams, Massachusetts' U.S. Constitution ratification convention, 1788

"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action." - George Washington