July 4th

While July 4th one hundred and fourty eight years ago was a dire time in the survival of the Confederacy with the fall of Vicksburg and the carnage at Gettysburg, Independence Day should be remembered and celebrated by compatriots for the birth of the United States of America and the pure principles which our founding fathers envisioned for foundation of our nation and particularly in the cornerstone Constitution.  If the Jeffersonian ideals which had been the framework of the Constitution had been adhered to in 1861 and the period leading up that (as well as in today's day and time), the struggle for States Rights and the attempt to reign in a tyrannical overreaching overbearing Federal government would not have resulted in the travesty of hundreds of thousands of casualties in the War Between the States and the world today may have been a much different place. Truly, the Confederate States of America may have grown to be "the shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides freedom loving people everywhere" as Ronald Reagan stated.  Today, the debate is alive as to whether America is still or can continue to be such a shining example but a return to the founding principles is our only hope.  So when you celebrate Independence Day this July 4th, reflect on the great struggle, the founding of the Confedearet States of America and the War for Southern Independence which was fought to preserve those founding father's vision.  The Prattville Dragoons will be marching in the city of Prattville's July 4th parade to celebrate American Independence gained in the eighteenth century, to honor the World War II veterans who fought to preserve democracy and defeat the Axis powers in the twentieth century, and to remember those who fought in the War for Southern Independence in the nineteenth century.