Freedom Rings for 250 Years
By Sen. John Thune
Two hundred and fifty years ago, on July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence. Like the first shot at the Battle of Lexington, the Declaration was heard around the world. It laid out the causes which impelled the colonists’ separation and the principles that would govern our new nation: That there are unalienable rights given by God, existing before government and which are government’s duty to protect.
Many of these ideas were not new; it was a document built on the wisdom of the ages – including the inheritance of Christian faith, the tradition of British common law, and the colonists’ own experience in self-government. But the Declaration was revolutionary because it founded an entirely new nation on these ideas. Nowhere in the world before 1776 can we find a nation built on the principles that all men are created equal, that their rights come from God not government, and that government’s first duty is to protect those rights. It’s uniquely American.
What started in Philadelphia set the country ablaze. Its lasting impact is visible in our own state, long after the battles of the Revolutionary War. It was the same thirst for freedom that brought pioneers west to the prairies and hills of the Dakota Territory. And our state’s motto reflects the same principles found in the Declaration: “Under God the People Rule.”
There is no place I’d rather celebrate America’s 250th birthday than in South Dakota. Fireworks are back at Mount Rushmore, and you can’t beat our state’s iconic monument, the Black Hills, and a clear South Dakota sky as a backdrop for a celebration like this. I’m looking forward to joining President Trump there to celebrate our great country.
There has been another, perhaps unexpected, celebration of America in recent weeks. With World Cup games occurring in cities across the country, the media has been filled with stories of visitors to our country discovering America (and ranch dressing). Most of all they’re encountering the American character – our generous, optimistic, and big-hearted people – and embracing it. Those elements of our national character, I believe, are the natural consequence of the principles on which our country was founded and that still shape us.
There are a lot of things that draw people to the United States – the sheer vastness of this land and the equally limitless possibilities to make a better life for yourself. But we remain the envy of the world for one reason: Ours is a nation “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” I pray we always will be and that God will continue to bless our country and keep us faithful to the principles for which it stands.
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