Dear Editor, Unhappy with England, the 13 colonies sent delegates to Philadelphia in 1774 to form the First Continental Congress. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed. This East Coast holiday has little to do with us in Texas and the Southwest! Through manifest destiny, the white man believed he had the God-given right to expand westward. He felt this "preordained" belief gave him a sense of mission, a national destiny to destroy anything and anyone who got in his way from getting land for his own wealth, freedom, and self-sufficiency – something he perceived Native Americans (and later Mexicans) as being incapable of understanding or deserving of. I hate to rain on your parade but we need to be conscientious about the holidays we "celebrate." Wake up, America. Please seek the truth behind everything we take for granted. Ask yourself why we have so many national and international problems. I believe the blame falls largely on the greedy elite who feel they have the right to hold on to their power at all cost!