Winnebago County Board Resolution for the reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th

49-62010

RESOLUTION: Request Sheriff to Read Declaration of Independence on Courthouse Steps on July 4, 2010

TO THE WINNEBAGO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS:

WHEREAS, the Continental Congress, by a Declaration of Independence, dated July 4, 1776, clearly declared the inhabitants of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, were no longer colonial subjects to be exploited arbitrarily by servants of the King and Parliament of Great Britain, but now were free citizens of their own territories, and that free citizens should constitute the governments for those territories; and

WHEREAS, the Continental Congress provided that same day, by orders of their House, that their Declaration should be proclaimed aloud and published to the free citizens of the territories represented in their Congress; and

WHEREAS, the notification of the Declaration to responsible citizens was then done by sheriffs, who proclaimed it at the courthouse steps, by clergymen, who read it from their pulpits, and by printers, who printed it in their gazettes; and

WHEREAS, the Continental Congress thus initiated a process that has created the Constitutions and state governments of our Union including the Constitution and government of the State of Wisconsin.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Winnebago County Board of Supervisors that it hereby requests Sheriff Michael Brooks to read the Declaration of Independence from the steps of the Courthouse at 8:00 a.m. on the morning of July 4, 2010, as this was the custom in the early history of our country.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Winnebago County Board of Supervisors that we ask Sheriff Brooks to read the document without further comment or speech. This event is intended for those present to hear the words of the Declaration as we begin to celebrate our Day of Independence.

Submitted by:

Bill Wingren, District 18
Winnebago County Board of Supervisors

Committee Vote:  ______

Vote Requirement for Passage:

Majority of Those Present

Approved by the Winnebago County Executive this _____  day of _______________, 2010.

________________________________
Mark L Harris
Winnebago County Executive