Tomorrow, July 4, 2026, marks the 250th anniversary of American independence. Folks everywhere will celebrate a milestone no nation in history but America has ever reached. You’re probably thinking, “Other nations have hit the 250-year mark.” And you would, of course, be correct. But no nation in world history has given more, for so long, to preserve a country built on the principles laid out in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
America Is an Exceptional Nation
It’s almost hard to believe that 250 years have passed since our Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence. A group of patriots, armed with muskets, dared to take on the most powerful empire on Earth, fighting for freedom and the freedom of their posterity. It was in those early days of the American Revolution that American exceptionalism – the idea that the US and its people hold an inimitable place in history – was born.
American exceptionalism was forged in the Continental Army’s frozen encampments at Morristown and among the Patriot militia at King’s Mountain. It lived in every stitch of Betsy Ross’ flag and echoed in every note of Francis Scott Key’s “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It grew in the footprints of Lewis and Clark and the sacrifices at Gettysburg. American exceptionalism traveled west on covered wagons and east on warships. It brought the world the light bulb, the telephone, the airplane, and the internet.
With each passing year, American exceptionalism became the defining element of our nation’s culture. It exists because Americans who believe in the founding principles – and who strive to carry on the legacy of the Founding Fathers – are exceptional people.
Our Ragged Old Flag
America is in a period of division and uncertainty, but the Founding Fathers would never have accepted the growing belief that this nation’s best days are behind her. Facing almost certain ruin, they pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor for the future of the United States. Consider what Thomas Paine wrote in The American Crisis:
“THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
“Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.”
That same spirit still lives in the American people today, and if we have the courage to embrace it, America’s story is far from over. On this semiquincentennial, the words of country music legend Johnny Cash’s “Ragged Old Flag” come to mind: “And she’s gettin’ thread bare, and she’s wearing thin / But she’s in good shape for the shape she’s in / ‘Cause she’s been through the fire before / And I believe she can take a whole lot more.”
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