Two hundred and fifty years ago, fifty-six men gathered in Philadelphia and pledged to one another "their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor."They were merchants and farmers, lawyers and physicians.They could not know whether the cause of independence would triumph or fail.
Some would lose everything.But they knew with unshakable certainty that liberty was worth any sacrifice.This Independence Day, as America celebrates its 250th birthday, we rightly honor their undaunted courage.
But as we remember the past, we must also commit ourselves to renewing the ideals that gave birth to the Republic and have sustained it ever since.SECRETS OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR BATTLEFIELDS EMERGE 250 YEARS AFTER AMERICA'S FOUNDINGThe American Revolution was unlike any the world had ever seen.Kings had long claimed that their authority flowed from heaven to throne.
Our Founders proclaimed something altogether different: that all men are "created equal" and "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights."Those words turned the world upside down.Our rights do not come from any sovereign; presidents, legislatures, judges, bureaucrats, or the shifting winds of public opinion.They come from God.Government exists not to invent our liberties but to secure their blessings for every generation.That enduring truth is the beating heart of the American experiment, and it explains why our Constitution has endured longer than almost any other in history.At times, when America has strayed from its highest ideals, we have found our way back not by abandoning our founding principles, but by returning to them with renewed conviction.Today, Americans disagree about many things.We debate policy, politics, and the direction of our country.
Such debates are healthy in a free republic.But before we are Republicans or Democrats, conservatives or liberals, we are first and foremost Americans — the grateful heirs of a remarkable birthright purchased by the courage and sacrifice of those w...