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Sixteen months earlier than Thomas Jefferson crafted the highly effective phrases that will change into our Declaration of Independence, he sat quietly in Richmond’s St. John’s Church, absorbing the oratory of Patrick Henry. Henry’s name, “Give me liberty or give me dying,” ignited a revolutionary spirit that Jefferson would later seize on parchment.
As we strategy July 4, 2026, America’s 250th birthday, Jefferson’s phrases resonate with renewed significance: “We maintain these truths to be self-evident, that each one males are created equal, that they’re endowed by their Creator with sure unalienable rights, that amongst these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” These phrases mark the beginning of our nation. These phrases impressed women and men, enslaved and free, native and immigrant. These phrases modified the world ceaselessly. Each motion for human dignity, equality, and liberty from then on, right here and in each nook of the earth, has appeared to those phrases for inspiration and justification.
All through our historical past, America has persistently labored towards these aspirational ideals, typically imperfectly, however all the time purposefully. The freedoms promised in 1776 weren’t instantly or universally granted; generations of People – enslaved folks, girls and others denied their full rights – would wait many years to style freedom, and the combat for true equality has continued into our personal century.
PROTECTING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE IN OUR 250TH YEAR
We’re the one nation in human historical past not based on ethnicity, territory, or faith, however moderately on a daring set of concepts, beliefs, and a system of presidency. After we lose sight of the place we got here from or overlook what our founding was meant to determine, our variations start to divide us moderately than bind us. That’s the reason civic renewal is important. We should reconnect People with our shared story, and re-engage those that really feel neglected or consider our founding beliefs now not apply to them.
Virginia performed a pivotal function in this founding. From the Committees of Correspondence in Williamsburg, to the Fairfax Resolves in Alexandria, to the voices of the Overmountain Males in Roanoke and Patrick Henry in Richmond—brave actions have been taken by individuals who didn’t all the time agree, didn’t all the time like or belief each other, however who selected to behave as a result of their frequent trigger was extra necessary than their divisions.
Even within the face of deep threat and uncertainty, folks made troublesome, typically harmful decisions. Enslaved males like James Armistead Lafayette and Gowan Pamphlet took nice private dangers to combat for the hope of freedom. Native communities, regardless of displacement and division, joined within the trigger for liberty. These tales, too typically untold, remind us that our historical past is advanced—however it’s also wealthy with braveness, resilience, and sacrifice.
As People, we all know we now have not all the time lived as much as our beliefs. We’ve fallen brief repeatedly. However our optimism for the longer term rests not on wishful considering, however on our enduring perception that the system of presidency we inherited offers us the instruments to restore our faults and fulfill our promise. The work of forming a extra good union isn’t completed—it have to be taken up by each era.
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This milestone 12 months isn’t just about fireworks and parades. It’s a time for national reflection and civic renewal. It’s a second to recommit ourselves to liberty, and civic accountability—ideas that stay as important right now as they have been in 1776. As Nationwide Honorary Chair of Virginia 250 and Board Chair of the Colonial Williamsburg Basis, I’ve seen firsthand the power constructing throughout Virginia to make this commemoration significant. We’ve got a novel alternative to inform the entire story—to teach, to have interaction, and to encourage. When 2026 attracts to a detailed, might each American have the ability to look into the mirror of our historical past and see themselves and one another extra clearly.
Now could be our time to step ahead and do our work so that each citizen understands their function in sustaining our democracy. Whereas we might by no means all agree, and can stay as spirited and various as we now have all the time been, now could be our time to recollect why we’re all People.
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E Pluribus Unum.
It doesn’t matter the place you come from, the way you began or what you appear to be. Should you consider within the promise of America, in particular person liberty and equality earlier than God, then out of many, one remains to be doable.
