Latest news with #DeclarationOfIndependence
Wall Street Journal
4 days ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
What Made July 4 Possible?
Karl Rove says that we're focused on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence because it is 'What Made America Great' (op-ed, July 3). Fair enough, but without June 17, 1775, there would be no July 4, 1776. On that day, weeks after the battles at Lexington and Concord, thousands of men and boys put down their plows, left their families and marched to Charlestown, Mass., to fight what was then the most powerful army in the world. They weren't yet fighting for a fully articulated nation but for dignity and the right to self-determination. Their valor didn't merely foreshadow the revolution—it ignited what was to come.
Japan Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Trump's rejection of America's founding principles
In late June and early July 1776, the Second Continental Congress framed, debated and adopted the Declaration of Independence. The document announced the creation of a new American republic and established its defining principles: a commitment to free trade, free immigration and internationalism. As the United States celebrated its 249th birthday on July 4, the determination of President Donald Trump's administration to abandon these founding principles has become starkly apparent. By doing so, they risk surrendering the key to America's prosperity and geopolitical influence at a moment when the world has never appeared so unstable. The Committee of Five — John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman — who drafted the Declaration of Independence condemned King George III for 'cutting off our trade with all parts of the world.' Since George III's accession in 1760, the British imperial government had erected tariffs and nontariff barriers on American trade with the French and Spanish colonies in the Caribbean and South America, depriving Americans of a vital outlet for their products and access to hard currency. This led Jefferson, in 1774, to implore Britain not 'to exclude us from going to other markets.' The following year, Franklin called on the monarchy 'to give us the same privileges of trade as Scotland received at the union (of 1707) and allow us a free commerce with all the rest of the world.' The declaration echoed these sentiments: Free trade was a central tenet of America's founding document, albeit accompanied by state support for the development of new industries. The authors of the declaration also condemned George III for his misguided restrictions on immigration. Well-designed states, America's founders believed, should promote the movement of people. They denounced George III for endeavoring to 'prevent the population of these states' and reversing generations of imperial policy by 'refusing to pass' laws 'to encourage... migrations hither.' By contrast, American patriots welcomed immigrants, who brought new skills to enhance production and immediately proved to be good consumers. 'New settlers in America,' Franklin maintained, cleared farms and established villages and towns, creating 'a growing demand for our merchandise, to the greater employment of our manufacturers.' America's founders declared their independence from Britain not because they wanted to turn their backs on Europe, but because, as the opening sentence of the declaration says, they wanted to situate themselves 'among the powers of the Earth.' That way, European imperial powers such as the Dutch Republic, France and Spain could support them in a global struggle against George III's tyranny. America's founders sought internationalism, not isolation — a goal that many of their successors shared. On July 4, 1821, U.S. President John Quincy Adams, the son of one of the declaration's framers, reflected on the importance of America's founding document when he claimed that its goal was 'to form connections of friendship and of commerce with foreign nations.' Adams concluded that 'never, never for a moment have the great principles, consecrated by the declaration of this day, been renounced or abandoned.' President Abraham Lincoln reinforced the view that the declaration, more than any other founding document, outlines the principles of American government. In his first inaugural address on March 4, 1861, Lincoln declared that the U.S. government was 'much older than the Constitution.' A few weeks earlier, in the hall where the declaration had been signed, Lincoln insisted that he had 'never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.' Later, on July 4, 1864, Lincoln endorsed the free movement of people by signing into law the Act to Encourage Immigration. No one truly committed to the original meaning of America's constitutional document can abandon the principles of free trade, free immigration or internationalism, as framed by Franklin and Jefferson, embraced by Adams and Lincoln and presumably celebrated each year on the Fourth of July. But recent developments suggest that today's political leaders are doing just that. The Trump administration's flurry of tariffs and trade barriers, terrorization and deportation of immigrants and increasing isolationism are more reminiscent of George III's policies than of those defended by America's founders. Over the past 249 years, the U.S. was arguably at its greatest when it fervently pursued its founding mission to guarantee the free flow of people and goods and to build international alliances opposed to tyrannical and autocratic governments. As the country approaches its semiquincentennial, one fears that it is also approaching its nadir. Steve Pincus is professor of history at the University of Chicago and the author of "The Heart of the Declaration: The Founders' Case for Activist Government" (Yale University Press, 2016). © Project Syndicate, 2025
Washington Post
5 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Neither snow nor pandemic stops the nation's first miracle
Before America had the Declaration of Independence, much less the Constitution, the nation had the Postal Service. Before Benjamin Franklin wooed France into the alliance that won our freedom, he sowed the seeds of the U.S. mail. The history of the United States of America cannot be understood without the post office.
Associated Press
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Thomas Jefferson's Monticello & More Perfect Launch Declaration of Independence Book Club Ahead of America's 250th Birthday
A National Invitation to Revisit America's Founding Ideals and Reflect on Their Meaning Today CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., July 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Monticello and More Perfect are proud to announce the launch of the Declaration of Independence Book Club, a nationwide invitation for Americans to reflect on the founding document that declared our independence and continues to define our democratic promise. The Book Club, launched on July 4, 2025 at Monticello, marks the beginning of a year-long civic engagement initiative leading up to the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026. In three guided sessions, participants will explore the Declaration's revolutionary ideas, its complex legacy, and what it means to affirm those ideals today. Designed for book clubs, classrooms, faith communities, and civic groups, the Declaration of Independence Book Club Reader is free and available online. It includes short essays, historical timelines, discussion questions, and video content to support both in-person and virtual conversations. The sessions are organized around three themes: 'The Declaration Book Club is one of the many exciting elements of our celebration of the nation's 250th birthday in 2026,' said Jane Kamensky, president of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. 'We think Americans are hungry for the opportunity to rediscover, discuss, and celebrate the Declaration. We can all take inspiration from its global impact and lasting legacy.' The Declaration of Independence Book Club is part of a growing constellation of efforts to mark America's semiquincentennial by reconnecting Americans across differences in conversation about the values that define us. The initiative will also be featured at a Constitution Day event on September 17 hosted by More Perfect and iCivics at American University. 'The Declaration is more than a historical artifact; it's a living promise,' said More Perfect CEO, John Bridgeland.. 'This Book Club offers Americans and communities across the country a space to consider how we carry that promise forward.' To explore the toolkit, visit: About The Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello The Thomas Jefferson Foundation was incorporated in 1923 to preserve Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, in Charlottesville, Virginia. Today, the foundation seeks to bring history forward into national and global dialogues by engaging audiences with Jefferson's world and ideas and inviting them to experience the power of place at Monticello and on its website. Monticello is recognized as a National Historic Landmark, a United Nations World Heritage Site and a Site of Conscience. As a private, nonprofit organization, the foundation's regular operating budget does not receive ongoing government support to fund its twofold mission of preservation and education. For information, visit About More Perfect More Perfect is a nonpartisan alliance of 37 Presidential Centers, National Archives Foundation, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Karsh Institute for Democracy at the University of Virginia, and more than 100 organizations working together to advance five foundational Democracy Goals: 1) Universal Civic Learning; 2) Expanding National Service & Volunteering; 3) Bridging Divides & Building Trust; 4) Trusted Elections & More Representative and Responsive Governance; and 5) Access to Trusted News & Information. For press inquiries, contact: [email protected] View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE More Perfect
National Post
06-07-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Raymond J. de Souza: America's 1775 invasion of Quebec ended in retreat. Trump should ponder that
Article content It was not a matter only of heated rhetoric. The American Revolutionary War began in April 1775 at Lexington and Concord. Soon after George Washington was appointed first commander of the Continental Army, the founding of which in June 1775 was marked by the military parade in Washington last month. Article content Within months, Gen. Washington moved troops north to attack Quebec, partly motivated by the hope that French Canadiens might join the Americans and turn against the British, reversing the results of the 'Battle of Quebec' 1759. Instead, French Catholics rejected an alliance with the anti-Catholic American revolutionaries, and the British prevailed that winter in the 'Battle of Quebec' 1775. Article content The 250th anniversary of that battle this fall is a salutary occasion for Canadians to recall that the future existence of Canada as a continental country was in peril then, and was preserved in part by toleration for the religious liberty of French Catholics. Article content Article content Undaunted by the loss of the Battle of Quebec 1775, the Americans continued to see Catholic liberty as a threat. While the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776 contains some of the noblest aspirations of the human spirit, it also includes a litany of grievances, namely 'Abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighboring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies.' Article content The 'free system of English Laws' meant the discriminatory laws against Catholics in England and Ireland — restrictions on worship, owning property, standing for office, etc … The Catholic culture of Quebec was thus seen as a clear and present danger of tyranny — 'absolute rule' — to the American colonies. Article content This story, with an ominous beginning, had a happier end. After the revolution, the new American government did not aggressively seek to restrict Catholic liberty, and the Bill of Rights guaranteed religious freedom. Article content Canadians are wise in these semiquintcentennial observances to recall the whole story, not just the parts favourable to the American telling. This fall, 250 years ago, American forces were marching northward to Canada. Had they succeeded, Confederation in 1867 would have looked much different, if being possible at all. Article content
