Happy 4th of July - Eagle in front of American Flag

Servant Leaders And Our Nation’s Independence

On the 4th of July and anytime throughout the year, we should remember the debt of gratitude we owe to these great Servant Leaders and founding fathers of our nation.
An image of The Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence

The Fourth of July in the United States of America is celebrated as the nation’s birthday – our Independence Day.  It was on the 4th of July, 1776 that the Continental Congress adopted our Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. The creation of this document, the adoption of it’s authority by our congress and the freedom of our nation that it represented would not have been possible without the great service of many leaders in our young nation’s history. Created, read and adopted in Philadelphia, the document set forth many servant leadership ideals. Included among these statements is one of the most famous in the English language, which would eventually be used by Abraham Lincoln in the emancipation of slaves and the creation of Emancipation Proclamation:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Although most of the original text is attributed to Thomas Jefferson, every American associated with this document’s creation and adoption displayed great service to their fellow American. For every man that signed the document understood fully the risk they accepted willingly – the risk of execution by Great Britain for treason to the founding country. Beyond this great personal risk, each man supporting the document and its aims also risked their livelihood and even their family’s well being. As a result, it is clear these individuals were all willing to invest great personal risk in their devotion to serving the constituents of these United States of America.

Therefore, whether on the 4th of July or anytime throughout the year, we should remember the debt of gratitude we owe to these great servant leaders and founding fathers of our nation.

The servant leaders that signed of the Declaration of Independence included:

4thJuly-msl1. John Hancock

2. Josiah Bartlett

3. William Whipple

4. Matthew Thornton

5. Samuel Adams

6. John Adams

7. Robert Treat Paine

8. Elbridge Gerry

9. Stephen Hopkins

10. William Ellery

11. Roger Sherman

12. Samuel Huntington

13. William Williams

14. Oliver Wolcott

15. William Floyd

16. Philip Livingston

17. Francis Lewis

18. Lewis Morris

19. Richard Stockton

20. John Witherspoon

21. Francis Hopkinson

22. John Hart

23. Abraham Clark

24. Robert Morris

25. Benjamin Rush

26. Benjamin Franklin

27. John Morton

28. George Clymer

29. James Smith

30. George Taylor

31. James Wilson

32. George Ross

33. George Read

34. Caesar Rodney

35. Thomas McKean

36. Samuel Chase

37. William Paca

38. Thomas Stone

39. Charles Carroll of Carrollton

40. George Wythe

41. Richard Henry Lee

42. Thomas Jefferson

43. Benjamin Harrison

44. Thomas Nelson, Jr.

45. Francis Lightfoot Lee

46. Carter Braxton

47. William Hooper

48. Joseph Hewes

49. John Penn

50. Edward Rutledge

51. Thomas Heyward, Jr.

52. Thomas Lynch, Jr.

53. Arthur Middleton

54. Button Gwinnett

55. Lyman Hall

56. George Walton

Question: What Servant Leaders have helped you?[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

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Ben Lichtenwalner

Ben Lichtenwalner

Ben Lichtenwalner is the founder and principal of Modern Servant Leader and Radiant Forest, LLC. He has studied and promoted servant leadership awareness and adoption for over 20 years. He is the author of 2 leadership books and has 2 decades of corporate management and leadership experience. His corporate experience spans CIO, VP, Director, and many management roles at Fortune 500, INC 500, and Nonprofits. Ben’s education includes a B.S. in Management Science & Information Systems from Penn State University and an MBA from Lehigh University. Ben's Full Profile Here: About Ben Lichtenwalner

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