Happy Fourth of July, readers! Whatever you do to celebrate the Fourth, take some time to remember the brave souls who believed in an idea of freedom and self-governance enough to pledge their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to see it done.

Remember those brave souls — farmers, ranchers, merchants and frontiersmen — who took up arms against an oppressive regime across the sea, defying a mighty army and daunting navy, to give their fellow citizens, and their posterity, a nation based on the Enlightenment ideals of reason, knowledge and the pursuit of happiness, however a person defines it.

Those rebellious colonists endured many sufferings from the declaration of our independence from the crown of His Majesty King George III until the final surrender of Gen. Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, a long six years later. Victory was far from certain, and there were many dark nights of the soul lit only by the rockets red glare.

But in the end — as ever — the idea of a free nation, the commitment of Americans to their brothers-in-arms and the assistance of our allies the French won the day. Two hundred and thirty-three years later, the spirit and vision of those brave men endures.

Happy July 4th.