Category: Declaration of Independence

For July Fourth, NPR Ditches Declaration of Independence

Commentary At National Public Radio, the document that effectively created the United States is out. Predictably, this year the left-wing media churned out a drumbeat of pieces about why Independence Day isn’t so great for one reason or another. It’s an annual tradition, so no surprise. The Left had a bad month at the Supreme Court, so…


American Independence: A Cause for Celebration and Hope for the Future

“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought…


We Must Save the 4th of July—and Ourselves—From Cancellation by the Left

Commentary While I wrote “The 56” in desperation as a way to warn against the far-left’s stated desire to “cancel” the Fourth of July and our Founding Fathers, it isn’t a Fourth of July book. Rather, it’s an everyday plea that “If we don’t collectively jump into that ‘arena’ made famous by Teddy Roosevelt’s 1910…


The Declaration’s Vision Should Unite Us

Commentary Deep divisions and endless hostility—especially around the controversial topics of race and discrimination—threaten to tear our nation apart. Such serious matters must be discussed and resolved. But they shouldn’t make us forget the one thing that has always united Americans of varied ethnicities, races, and religions as one people. Very simply, it is the…


Lincoln, the American Founding, and the Moral Foundations of a Free Society

Commentary Abraham Lincoln believed that the success of American self-government required the right ideas and the right institutions. He thought that the right ideas were found in the Declaration of Independence—specifically, human equality, individual rights, government by consent of the governed, and the right of revolution. A corollary to these bedrock principles was “the right…


Nathan Hale: A Patriot to Remember

It’s the fall of 1776 and New York City is under attack. The Declaration of Independence had birthed the United States of America barely two months earlier, and there was no turning back for the colonists. General George Washington had freed Boston in March and was slowly turning his army into a genuine fighting force….


Founding Father George Clymer: A Founder Twice Over

By the time George Clymer was 1 year old, both his mother and his father were dead. Orphaned, George was placed in the care of his Philadelphia uncle, William Coleman. Coleman was an extraordinary man—a lawyer and merchant of Quaker stock, a friend of Benjamin Franklin (and member of the latter’s Junto), a founder with…


Clarence Thomas and the Declaration of Independence

Commentary Last week, Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas arrived at the University of Notre Dame to speak about the Declaration of Independence. Speaking invitations like this that Thomas accepts are few and far between. Anyone who cares about our country and listens to this address will wish that he would agree to speak more….


The Battle Between Freedom and Socialism Has Been Fought Since America’s Founding

Commentary The end of this battle will determine our fate and that of our children and the future of the entire world. The United States is known as a land of the free. The American character is rooted in independence and thought belief in daily life. However, the foundations of the American character are now…


Reclaiming the Spirit of Independence Day

Commentary On Independence Day we reflect together as a nation on a remarkable moment in history 245 years ago, when 56 men from 13 colonies gathered in Philadelphia to sign the Declaration of Independence. There, our founders declared with one voice: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that…