It's time to celebrate another Fourth of July. But this year will be different.
As we approach the 250th anniversary of the founding of our nation, we want to pay tribute to the history and exceptionalism that make our country the most successful experiment in human history.
We also want to make this simple plea: Even in an era of divisive politics, exacerbated by uncivil comments on social media, let us unite around the ideals enshrined in our Declaration and the vision of our 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence who had the courage to sign what amounted to their own death warrant. Most of these men sacrificed their fortunes, their livelihoods, and, in some cases, their families and personal safety for the cause of liberty.
Two hundred and fifty years later, we know it was worth the sacrifice. At the time, these patriots had no way of knowing that their bravery would establish the greatest nation in the history of mankind.
One of our favorite reminders of America's greatness came from President Ronald Reagan during his farewell speech in 1989. He said: "Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words: 'We the people.' 'We the people' tell the government what to do, it doesn't tell us. ... Almost all the world's constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which 'We the people' tell the government what it is allowed to do."
In 2026, more of our politicians and wanna-be politicians (at all levels) are doing all they can to grow the power of government. They are attempting to take an ever-larger "fair share" of what others have earned. It's clear they've either forgotten or are ignorant of the Spirit of 1776.
For generations, we have been warned that the failure to appreciate the values embodied in the Declaration could result in an erosion of the American spirit and the values that led to our independence. Unfortunately, those warnings have turned prophetic in some cases.
Too many Americans have never learned the story of the American Revolution or been adequately taught about the revolutionary thought and sacrifices of our Founders. Two or three generations of Americans have been indoctrinated by modern education, entertainment, and news media.
As we celebrate America 250, we recall another important reminder voiced by President Reagan: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
Let's renew our American spirit by re-examining the words of our Declaration of Independence and remembering the true significance of the Fourth of July.
God bless America.
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IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America
"When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
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. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes ... But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies ...
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved ... And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
