By Don Keelan

My preparation for the country’s 250th celebration commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence provided an opportunity to reread this historic document once more.

In doing so, two things stood out: first, the writing style. For example, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

Second, the signers objected to not just one issue often portrayed as the reason for declaring our independence—taxation without representation, highlighted by the Stamp Act and the Boston Tea Party. The Document noted 27 charges against Great Britain and King George III.

Several notes are, “He has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.” Another cause for declaring independence: “He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of People.”

One other powerful charge presented by the Signers: “He has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.”

Eight years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Great Britain’s tyrannical hold finally ended. We were no longer dependent on the whims of a parliament and king, 3,000 miles away. Unfortunately, 250 years later, there are many Americans who are still in the grips of dependency, not from a foreign country but from personal behavior and circumstances.

Just how independent are millions of Americans whose daily lives are impacted by addiction? Addiction to illegal drugs, gambling, electronic screen time, and unhealthy foods.

Another significant constraint to our independence is debt. Debt incurred at the national, state, and municipal levels has risen to incomprehensible amounts and, worse, continues to accumulate.

In addition, it is the debt that companies and individuals have subscribed to: college loans, credit cards, car and home mortgages, and business borrowings that have reached all-time highs and are at risk of not being repaid.

Just how independent are we when one reads a recent article in the Bennington Banner: “Vermont nonprofits release plan to ‘end childhood hunger.’” It goes on to note, “In 2025, approximately 79,000 Vermont children, about two-thirds of all kids in the state, were at risk of hunger because they live in households not able to afford all their basic needs.”

In 2026, we may have gained our independence from a tyrannical king and corrected the 27 stated grievances so noted in the Declaration of Independence, but we replaced them with other forms of dependency.

Such dependence did not exist 250 years ago, when individual independence was paramount, so much so that individuals and their neighbors were willing to give all to protect the right to be independent and free.

It is economic and personal independence that are at risk today. This was called to our attention in a recent column in the Bennington Banner titled “Vermont is in Trouble.”

The leaders of Vermont Business Roundtable, State Chamber of Commerce, and the Vermont Futures Project said, “We are aging, shrinking, and pricing out our own children. Schools face consolidation, taxes are climbing, and employers struggle to fill jobs. We’re too dependent on federal funding to support state spending. A housing shortage is driving up prices, slowing economic growth, and leaving young people feeling forced out.”

To regain such independence, we have a long and difficult journey to take. Would it not then be a goal in 2026 to declare that, when our country celebrates its 275th Anniversary in 2051, we can declare our independence from the scourges of addiction, debt, and government dependence so prevalent 25 years earlier?

The task will not be an easy one. It never is when one seeks freedom. In the meantime, let us celebrate the courage of those who were willing to put all that they had at risk to substitute dependence with independence.

HAPPY 250TH!