Legal is not always right. And right is not always legal. We celebrate July 4th because it's the day we "declared" independence. It was the start of our fight for justice because we believed the British were breaking the law.
By declaring independence, our forefathers essentially declared war. They knew that was their COA. And they made the decision as a group. We celebrate July 4th because it was the day the colonies voted on the Declaration of Independence. It was signed a few days before that. So although we weren't united, we were already uniting.
"IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
"The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
They based the Constitution on these beliefs, which brings us back to "how do we institute changes in our government?" ....By following the examples of our forefathers. First we need to know what we believe in, what's important to us, referring back to those basic principles as stated above. And then organizing ourselves with the purpose and plan to bring about the changes we are seeking; taking into account that the battle may be long and we may lose some ground at times, but we need to stay focused on the achievement of our goal. What provides that focus is that we don't believe we can not wage the battle, that not to do so would be detrimental to our future and that of our posterity.
(P.S. I have really been enjoying this discussion!)