Declaration reading reminded us of founders’ travails

To the editor:

Despite the morning fog on Independence Day, a group gathered beneath the tree on the Portsmouth Library grounds and, together, in unison, we read the Declaration of Independence. 

We appreciate Carolyn Magnus, director of the Portsmouth Free Public Library, for allowing us to meet at such a pleasant venue. 

Reading the document served to remind us of the travail our ancestors and founders went through before finally deciding upon action. Nor, was it easy among the statesmen of the colonies to come to agreement over the wording and meaning of those words as they wrote the Declaration of Independence and later, The Constitution. 

We remembered that our own colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence, but the last to sign the Constitution of the United States, holding out for the Bill of Rights, rights Rhode Islanders knew from experience, should be included. 

We’ll see you next year!

Anne B. Wagner, organizer

124 Hilltop Drive

Portsmouth