Today we are gathered to celebrate not only America's birthday but also the birthday of this community of Cambellsville, Iowa. This community is just three years old, a baby when compared America. This community has been a beacon of freedom since its beginning. Not only are the citizens of this good community color blind, but they also believe, as our early statesmen did that everyone was created equal.
             Most of you good citizens know me as Jonah Smith, but my given name is really Abiona Sabra. Africa was my birthplace but America is my home. Today we all stand here free men. Not too long ago this was not the case, you see there was no freedom for me in the beginning because I was a slave. Today I am a teacher having learned this trade at the hands of my former master's children's tutor. I was one of the fortunate slaves living on a plantation. My duties were confined to the plantation household and this gave me access to a better life that most other slaves. It was in this household that I learned the history of America.
             I have been ask by you to give this town's 4th of July speech. My journey to this day has been a long and a hard one. It is a great honor to be given this task. It was not long ago that this honor would never have been possible. The journey taken by me is much like the journey of America. We both started out as the property of another. I was the property of a plantation owner and America was the property of England.
             Let us first look at the journey of America. The thirteen colonies that became America were originally colonies of England. By the time the American Revolution took place, the citizens of these colonies were beginning to get tired of England's rule. Rebellion and discontent were abundant. One of the reasons the colonies started rebelling against England was the taxation issue. The colonies debated England's legal power to tax them.
             Though ea...