America at 250
How should we think about the American Revolution on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence?
In 1818, John Adams wrote that the American Revolution took place “in the hearts and minds of the people” and that it was a “radical change in the principals, opinions and sentiments of the people”. THAT was the real American Revolution.
The record of this revolution in Americans’ hearts and minds is truly one of our great national treasures. The change of hearts and minds provides precious knowledge to all future times and all people everywhere. It has to do with “ourselves and our prosperity”. It is the eloquent record of the conception and articulation of the American idea of political freedom. This occurred in pamphlets, state letters, sermons, constitutions, bills and declarations of rights; memoirs, diaries, journals, treaties and speeches – mostly in a compressed period in the 1760’s and 1770’s – In which a revolutionary generation learned to think and act like the Americans they were becoming.
This “real” American Revolution culminated in the Declaration of Independence. All of the events and actions leading up to the Declaration expressed one idea or another of the American concept of political freedom.
Celebrating the 4th of July is one way that every succeeding generation of Americans can continue to experience the American Revolution for themselves.
In his first inaugural address, George Washington declared that, “there exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness. The daily activity of a free people is “the pursuit of happiness”, the activity of being good sons and daughters, good parents, neighbors, secretaries, teachers, artists, farmers, plumbers, mechanics, business owners and citizens.
Just before he died in 1826, fifty years after the signing of the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson wrote of the meaning of the Declaration, “May it be to the world… All eyes are opened, or opening to the rights of man… For ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights and an undiminished devotion to them.”
So, this week and on the 4th, as we celebrate the Semiquincentennial of the American Revolution, remember that we are celebrating our rights and freedoms as declared in the Declaration of Independence and enshrined in the Constitution. Be kind to your neighbor. Help out someone in need. Celebrate with dignity and respect the creation of the greatest country in the history of the world. Hang out with family and friends. Read the Declaration of Independence or any other of our founding documents. Keep the flame of liberty alive!