By Gene Kemmeter

Last week the nation celebrated the 243rd anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration wasn’t a statement that the American colonies were at war with Britain. That had already been going on for more than a year. The Continental Congress was taking steps for more legislative equality from Britain because previous requests were ignored.

The Declaration of Independence became the birth certificate of the nation, the first public document to use the name “the United States of America.” The effort of colonists to be considered equals to the British was failing as King George III rejected the British Parliament’s conciliatory declaration of sovereignty over the colonies by issuing a Proclamation of Rebellion against them.

The Declaration contains some of the most memorable phrases in the English language, particularly the second paragraph: “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.”

The Declaration wasn’t a finished product. Over the years, laws and the U.S. Constitution have been modified to adopt the principles. The phrase, “all men are created equal,” overlooked slavery until the Emancipation Proclamation. And the right of women to vote took more than a century to become reality.

Copies of the declaration were distributed in Europe and other areas of the globe, and other nations slowly adopted their own declarations of independence, especially other colonies of former global powers. Texas declared independence from Mexico in 1836, and its delegates followed the Declaration of Independence in listing grievances and claiming freedom and independence.

More than half of the 193 countries represented at the United Nations have a document that can be considered their declaration of independence, and those list similar phrases from the Declaration of Independence.

U.S. schoolchildren used to memorize the Declaration of Independence for recital in the classroom for decades, if not more than a century. That helped the children become more familiar with the principles of the revolution. That practice has stopped, but many people are able to remember portions of the text, especially that second paragraph.

Will the United States ever become faithful to the words in the Declaration of Independence by fixing existing provisions? Will health care become universal?

Western Europe and other countries have mostly figured out how to it. Legislation might be difficult to craft, but it could be done favorably if other nations can do it.

A slew of environmental issues face the nation, such as climate change, urban sprawl and exhaustion of natural resources. Then there is the electoral college, which decided two of the last three presidents despite the candidates losing the popular vote.

There’s lots left to do. The process of creating the “more perfect union” may never end. But shouldn’t the nation be moving forward?