Happy Independence Day! We are so fortunate to be able to honor our Founding Fathers’ courageous decision to break free from Great Britain’s tyranny and create the greatest nation on earth – a nation founded on the consent of the governed and the protection of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As an American historian, I like to take this day to reflect on how our shared conservative principles find their roots in the American founding and the broader traditions of Western Civilization.In 1775, John Adams wrote an essay in response to loyalist arguments that reflected many of the ideas that eventually appeared in the Declaration of Independence. He wrote:
“All men are by nature equal; that kings are but the ministers of the people, that their authority is delegated to them by the people, for their good, and they have a right to resume it, and place it in other hands, or keep it to themselves, whenever it is made use of to oppress them.”
But what he says next is what’s especially remarkable. Adams says these aren’t new ideas but rather:
“They are the principles of Aristotle and Plato, of Livy and Cicero, and Sidney, Harrington, and Locke; the principles of nature and eternal reason, the principles on which the whole government over us now stands.”
Our Founders were not mindless revolutionaries trying to overthrow the government and sow chaos. They were creating a new form of government that would conserve and fulfill the traditions developed through centuries of Western Civilization.And that is what we’re fighting to preserve as conservatives today. We are in the midst of the second American Revolution, fighting for the very foundational principles that made America great.We must double down on our efforts to defend our Founders’ legacy for future generations.It’s why, thanks to our members, Heritage remains laser-focused on taking back America by dismantling the deep state, promoting policies that improve American lives, and restoring our Founders’ vision for self-governance in America.I think it’s fitting to leave you with some encouraging words from George Washington’s General Orders to the Continental Army.
“The eyes of all our countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings, and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the tyranny mediated against them. Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and show the whole world, that a freeman contending for liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth.”
The eyes of all our countrymen are upon us again. Let us all do our part to promote the good life and preserve the truth, goodness, and beauty of Western Civilization and our Founders’ vision for America.Thank you for standing with us in this critical time for our country.God Bless America.
Sincerely,Kevin D. Roberts, Ph.D.President, The Heritage Foundation
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