The fireworks are over, and the red, white and blue bunting has been put away. Americas Fourth of July celebration of our 250th anniversary is now just a memory. But this summers celebration of our founding wont be the last. The party will continue, and it may even get bigger.
In the coming years, celebrations will mark Revolutionary War battles in Boston, New York and Yorktown that came after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Americans will have a chance to hear about patriots they may never have known.
As a Southerner, I especially look forward to seeing patriots like Francis Marion, called the Swamp Fox, and Thomas Sumter, the Gamecock, celebrated in South Carolina. Long-forgotten battles such as Kings Mountain, Guilford Court House, Camden and Eutaw Springs â where Americans bent the course of history in the South and ultimately won â will also be commemorated.
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We would do well to keep our revolutionary heritage in mind. Historians describe the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence, beginning with the phrase, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal …,” as the most consequential sentence not just in American history, but for nations around the globe. Americas revolution inspired people around the world to depose despots and kings.
Jeffersons words created a new understanding of government based on equality, natural rights and the consent of the governed. They were a spark for revolutions across the world. Ultimately, 100 nations would incorporate the Declarations ideals. From France to Mexico, Chile and Haiti, and decades later in Czechoslovakia and Korea, the document was copied and emulated.
I learned of this legacy at the Museum of the American Revolution, which is hosting an incredible exhibit about the Declarations journey around the world. If you are in Philadelphia, I highly encourage you to go.
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Here at home, the Declaration of Independence galvanized efforts toward independence. Colonies set up their own governments, contravening royal authority. Newly organized states agreed to unite under one central, elected government.
But as inspiring as Jeffersons words were, the Declaration was, after all, only a document. It announced our determination to be a free people. But it did not secure that right. It would take five long years of battle to make the Declarations promise of a new nation a reality. In that time, Americans would face down the mightiest military in the world.
Britain had recently risen to the rank of the worlds mightiest imperial power. Its 400-ship navy commanded the seas. Britains battle-tested regulars had beaten its rival, France, and taken Quebec, Havana and India. Spain, another longtime foe, had lost territory to the British. At the close of the Seven Years War, the sun never set on the British Empire. In retrospect, the Americans mad dash to independence seems suicidal at best.
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