BSC holds Independence Day celebration
Published 8:45 am Friday, July 5, 2013
TRADITIONAL FOURTH FOOD: Bainbridge State College students were served hot dogs, along with all the fixings, from the left, Marlo Miller from Cairo, Ga., and Kendra Hunter and Jodie McLendon, both of Bainbridge.
By CAROL HEARD
Bainbridge State College Communications Specialist
It was President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address that tied the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence into one ideal — all men are created equal and therefore should be free, Bainbridge State College Professor of History David Nelson told a gathering on Wednesday, July 3.
Noting that the historic Battle of Gettysburg had ended 150 years ago on that day, Nelson said the historic two-minute speech fused the ideas of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence together for the first time.
Nelson recounted several facts relating to the signing of the Declaration of Independence and how the United States continues to evolve from a society of inequality years ago into one that is closer to grasping true equality. He cited the United States’ struggle with slavery, and how the right to vote was at first limited to just a few white, male landowners.
“We may not have been a perfect union, but we do have perfect ideals,” Nelson said. “And that ideal is what we celebrate on the Fourth.”
A HISTORY LESSON: Dr. David Nelson, professor of history at Bainbridge State College, said the historic Gettysburg Address delivered 150 years ago on Nov. 19, 1863, embodied together the ideals of the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
