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6 SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | JULY 2026 By Clare Mendez and Don Washington, Residents In recognition of our United States' 250th anniversary, I collaborated with my friend, neighbor, and historian, Don Washington. In college, Don double-majored in business and history, continuing his studies to receive a master's degree in history. e amount of historical knowledge he has in his brain is astonishing. Armed with facts, I talked with Don for a review. Here's what we have to share on the subject. In the 1700s, Britain's American colonists were British subjects under the authority of a king. ey also had the right to govern themselves if they obeyed British law. Male colonists who owned land could vote, and they elected colonial assemblies to make laws, although the king had the last word. e king could veto, or reject, the laws that assemblies passed and impose taxes for whatever reasons he chose. More and more taxes were imposed on Americans, along with fewer freedoms. ey believed the time had come for action, so a new cry went up: "No taxation without representation!" In 1776, the colonists met in Philadelphia as the Continental Congress. ey wanted Americans to remember the wrongs committed by King George III and Parliament. eir grievances included the king's closing of assemblies whose laws he opposed, cutting o trade with other parts of the world, imposing taxes without consent, and denying the right to a jury trial, among 23 other complaints. Eventually, the colonists would break their ties with Britain and they wanted the world to understand why they chose to take this serious step. On July 2, 1776, e Continental Congress picked a committee of ve men to write a Declaration of Independence. Chosen were omas Jeerson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. Since Jeerson was "the best writer," he was chosen to pen the declaration. On July 4th, aer several changes were made to the original document, the Declaration of Independence went to the printer. A total of 56 delegates to the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence. It is one of the most remarkable and signicant documents in all history. It did more than announce America's decision to be free of British rule; it proclaimed that every human being on earth has certain fundamental rights that no government can take away - the rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." e United States celebrates July 4th as "Independence Day," although delegates didn't sign the Declaration of Independence until about a month later. And now, 250 years later, "we the people" are still enjoying our independence and numerous other blessings that we call freedom. The Road Freeom

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