When the Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776, the Founders launched a radical experiment: a republic built on equality, natural rights, and the consent of the governed. No nation had ever sustained such a system. Two hundred fifty years later, America has succeeded beyond the Founders’ imagination. Its birthday deserves celebration, but also recommitment. To honor America at 250, we must remember the principles that made it possible.
When the Founders ratified the Declaration of Independence, they knew the odds were long. The 13 colonies were small, scattered, and militarily overmatched by the greatest empire on Earth. Britain had the world’s most powerful navy, a professional army, and vast imperial resources. But America had something stronger, a unifying creed. By declaring that “all men are created equal” and “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,” they shocked the world and won their freedom.
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Over the next 250 years, the United States has gone from a backwater of colonies to the greatest nation on Earth. We conquered a continent. We invested in canals, roads, turnpikes, harbors, and postal routes. We abolished slavery. We developed the modern corporation and built railroads connecting the continent. We won two world wars, established a peaceful global order that has lifted literally billions of people out of poverty, and have become the strongest, most prosperous nation on Earth.
This should be a history any citizen would be proud of. Many are. Both Gallup and Fox News polls found that 53% of Americans are proud of their country, and NBC News pegs it at 56%. Unfortunately, however, there is a growing partisan divide between those who are proud to be American and those who are not.
As recently as 2003, 65% of Democrats said they were proud to be American, compared to 86% of Republicans. But the gap has opened wide since then. Today, just 14% of Democrats say they are proud to be American, compared to 70% of Republicans.
While Democrats have fallen out of love with their country, it is clear this is not simply a detestation of President Donald Trump, although that is part of it. They have also drifted away from its founding principles.
In 2012, a 55% majority of Democrats still had a positive view of capitalism, or what should more accurately be called free enterprise, while just 50% felt the same way about socialism. But socialism has been rising among Democrats for some time. Today, just 42% of Democrats have a positive opinion of capitalism compared to 66% who now yearn for socialism. Republican and Independent views on socialism remain unchanged over that same time frame.
The parties no longer merely disagree about economics. They increasingly disagree about the basic institutions that sustain a good society. Marriage is one of the clearest examples.
Sixty-seven percent of Republicans are married, compared with less than half of Democrats. Two-thirds of Republicans say marriage improves relationships by strengthening commitment — only 30% of Democrats agree. Nearly half of Republicans say society is better off when more people are married, compared with just 10% of Democrats. While 61% of Republicans believe marriage is needed to create strong families, only 19% of Democrats say the same.
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The Democratic Party’s trust in American institutions has also fallen off a cliff. While vast majorities of Republicans still trust the military, police, small businesses, and church, negligible numbers of Democrats do. The only institution Democrats still trust is higher education, which is the institution that has been undermining faith in America and its Founding generation, documents, and tradition.
America’s 250th birthday should be more than a commemoration. It should be an opportunity for renewal. At a time when national pride has weakened and trust in institutions has collapsed, the answer is not cynicism, retreat, or the false promises of socialism. It is a return to the principles that made self-government possible — liberty, equality under the law, limited government, civic responsibility, and the consent of the governed. These are not Republican or Democratic ideas. They are American ideas. Reaffirming them is the surest way to restore confidence in our institutions and pride in the nation they serve.
