Millions of Americans are gearing up to celebrate Independence Day with cookouts, parades, fireworks, and hopefully beating the summer heat. It’s always worth pausing and reflecting on our nation’s heritage on July 4.
The United States of America began as a bold experiment: freedom of speech and religion, leaders who were accountable to the people, and individual states that served as laboratories for more localized governance.
For nearly a century after this nation’s founding, the discussions of slavery divided the country, but the Union ultimately held together. The U.S. survived two world wars and other conflicts, a crippling depression and other economic downturns, the Civil Rights era, and 9/11. This nation has endured presidents who died in office or were assassinated, and we’ve held our own through one government scandal after another.
Needless to say, we haven’t always gotten it right, but the U.S. is a resilient nation that has proven time and time again that liberty is worth pursuing and preserving. We’re not perfect, but as a nation, we should strive to be better.
When the Founding Fathers penned the U.S. Constitution, they initially wrote a preamble that went straight to the point, but “the Committee of Style, led by Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania,” instead wrote something more eloquent and aspirational.
The preamble states, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Notice the Founders didn’t aim to create a perfect nation — rather “a more perfect union.” If the U.S. has proven anything over 247 years, it’s that, despite our imperfections, we always aim for something higher.
Happy Birthday, U.S.A.! You’re always worth celebrating.
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