Most nations have their origins in ethnicity. The United States, however, originated with an idea. Rather than seeing people as subjects to a higher power, this idea placed power in the collective hands of the people, and it recognized basic human rights as being universally endowed by a creator.
Among those rights are “liberty, free speech, freedom of religion, due process of law, and freedom of assembly,” as the Library of Congress website enumerates them.
“America’s revolutionaries openly discussed these concepts,” the website notes. However, then, as now, many regular citizens accepted these ideas better in the abstract than in reality.
From the beginning, Americans have struggled to live up to the nation’s founding principles and ideals, whether the subject was slavery, women’s suffrage, equal public education opportunities or other practical applications.
And yet, as Americans celebrate another Fourth of July this coming Thursday, it is fitting to remember that the original signers of the Declaration of Independence were willing to sacrifice all for this idea. The end of that document asserts that the signers “mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”
They knew war was imminent. Their devotion to the idea was deadly serious. But they also asserted “a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence,” which was borne out time and again as they overcame desperate odds to defeat what was the world’s greatest military power at the time.
Thankfully, that idea still resonates today. It is found in the brave men and women who volunteer to serve in the armed forces and who, too often, are called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice.
It is found in refugees who endure enormous hardships to come to the United States, believing they can succeed if given a chance. Many do. In the two decades following the War in Vietnam, more than 1 million Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian refugees came here, while many more died trying. They may not have signed their names to a document, but they pledged their lives and honor, as well.
It is found in millions of everyday citizens who live quiet lives as kind neighbors and conscientious stewards of their communities and neighborhoods.
In election years such as this one, many loud voices compete to proclaim favorite candidates as true patriots. But real patriotism lies with those who study candidates and issues and who vote with the best interests of the nation in mind. It lies with people who, despite what some might see as annoyances, readily respond to jury duty summonses or who volunteer to perform services for those in need.
It is found in people who are, by nature, grateful for blessings.
On July 4, 1876, on the 100th anniversary of the nation’s independence, President Ulysses S. Grant issued a proclamation that expressed that theme.
“It seems fitting that on the occurrence of the hundredth anniversary of our existence as a nation a grateful acknowledgment should be made to Almighty God for the protection and the bounties which He has vouchsafed to our beloved country,” Grant said. He added that, amid the celebrations of the day, Americans should find time for “some public religious and devout thanksgiving to Almighty God for the blessings which have been bestowed upon us as a nation during the century of our existence, and humbly to invoke a continuance of His favor and of His protection.”
If Grant could see many blessings from the nation’s first 100 years, how many more can we see from the 148 that have passed since then? How much more gratitude should we express amid the fireworks, barbecues and other appropriate expressions on this holiday?
Above all, how much thanks should today’s Americans give to courageous founders who established an idea that revolutionized the world, and that continues to spark hope in people worldwide?