Brandy Derry Lingle

[The Redheaded libertarian @TRHLofficial]

"May the Declaration of Independence be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all,) the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government.”

~Thomas Jefferson to Roger C. Weightman
June 24, 1826, ten days before Jefferson's death.

~~~
“Thomas Jefferson writing the Declaration of Independence”
Artist: Howard Pyle
1898

[Tyler Englander @TylerEnglander]

I mean George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe were born here.

[Leading Report @LeadingReport]

Most patriotic states in America, ranked by WalletHub:

1. Virginia
2. Montana
3. Vermont
4. Colorado
5. Oregon
6. North Dakota
7. Washington
8. Maryland
9. Minnesota
10. New Hampshire
11. Utah
12. Alaska
13. Kansas
14. Hawaii
15. Wyoming
16. Iowa
17. Nebraska
18. Idaho
19. Kentucky
20. New Mexico
21. Georgia
22. Missouri
23. Delaware
24. North Carolina
25. Wisconsin
26. Maine
27. South Carolina
28. Nevada
29. South Dakota
30. Michigan
31. Massachusetts
32. Connecticut
33. Oklahoma
34. Tennessee
35. Arizona
36. Ohio
37. Illinois
38. Pennsylvania
39. Mississippi
40. California
41. West Virginia
42. Rhode Island
43. New Jersey
44. Indiana
45. Texas
46. Florida
47. Alabama
48. Louisiana
49. New York
50. Arkansas

[Dana Perino @DanaPerino]

The WWII vets featured in the President’s speech watched the fireworks from their memorial. ❤️🇺🇸🙏🏻🎆

[Geiger Capital @Geiger_Capital]

The United States is 3 human lifetimes old.

That’s it. In those short years we invented the light bulb, the telephone, the airplane, the transistor and the internet. We turned a few wooded colonies into the most powerful nation in the history of the world.

[John Rich🇺🇸 @johnrich]

Good God Almighty...Whitney Houston might have given the greatest performance of our National Anthem of ALL TIME! Take three minutes and watch this today. My goodness...Makes me wanna cry🇺🇸

[Wesley Hunt @WesleyHuntTX]

Turn the volume up.
Stand for the nation.
Sing every word.

For the 250th time…
Happy Birthday America. 🇺🇸

[Jason Miyares @JasonMiyaresVA]

🇺🇸 30 Heroes in 30 Days — Thomas Jefferson: Author of American Liberty
Countdown to July 4! 🇺🇸

One of Virginia’s greatest sons & author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote the birth certificate of our nation by declaring “all men are created equal” and endowed with unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Born in 1743 in Albemarle County, Virginia, Jefferson was a brilliant scholar, lawyer, architect, and statesman. He studied at the College of William & Mary and quickly rose as a leader in the Virginia House of Burgesses.

As tensions with Britain escalated, Jefferson penned powerful resolutions against British tyranny. In 1776, at just 33 years old, the Continental Congress chose him to draft the Declaration of Independence.

Working at a portable desk of his own design, Jefferson produced one of history’s most transformative documents in just a few weeks, that completely transformed man’s relationship with government. His words, rooted in Enlightenment ideals and the rights of Englishmen, ignited the cause of liberty and justified the American Revolution to the world.

During the war, Jefferson served as Governor of Virginia (1779–1781), supporting the Patriot effort despite the British invasion of his state.
After the Revolution, he succeeded Benjamin Franklin as Minister to France, where he witnessed the stirrings of another revolution and deepened his commitment to republican government.

As the third President of the United States (1801–1809), Jefferson orchestrated the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the size of the nation, and dispatched fellow Virginians Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their epic Corps of Discovery expedition. He founded the University of Virginia, designing its beautiful grounds himself, and championed public education, religious freedom, and limited government.

A man of many talents, Jefferson was also a passionate farmer, inventor, and violinist who designed his beloved Monticello. He maintained a lifelong (if sometimes complicated) friendship and rivalry with John Adams. Fittingly, both men died on July 4, 1826 the 50th anniversary of the Declaration they helped create.

Jefferson’s immortal words from the Declaration still echo: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”

When Martin Luther King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and declared that the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness were the promissory note for every American he was quoting the quite genius from Albemarle who wrote the mission statement for our nation. Jefferson wrote the promissory note so many have appealed to these past 250 years. Let us never forget them.

Thomas Jefferson reminds us that ideas have power, that one pen can rally a nation, and that the American experiment, still striving towards that more perfect union, remains a beacon of liberty for the world. A true son of Virginia and architect of American freedom. 🇺🇸
#30HeroesIn30Days #ThomasJefferson #DeclarationOfIndependence #Monticello #williamandmary #LouisianaPurchase #FoundingFathers #AmericanRevolution #America250 #Freedom250 #VA250

[johnny maga @johnnymaga]

Trump, reading to children:

“President Taft…He was a large man—very large—and he loved baseball. He’d go to baseball games, loved the hotdogs..He was our heaviest president, and I have to be careful because I don't want to supersede his record.”

Omg.😭

[Gene Simmons @genesimmons]

Happy 250th Anniversary to the greatest country in the world. Lest we forget, without America’s Veterans, America simply wouldn’t exist. All gave some. Some, gave all. God Bless America.

[Jason Miyares @JasonMiyaresVA]

🇺🇸 30 Heroes in 30 Days — James Madison: Father of the Constitution and Architect of the Bill of Rights
Countdown to July 4! 🇺🇸

One of the most brilliant and indispensable minds of the American Founding! James Madison, often called the “Father of the Constitution,” was a tireless scholar, statesman, and leader whose vision helped create and perfect our system of government.

Born in 1751 in Virginia, Madison was a small man with a towering intellect. He attended Princeton rather than @williamandmary because his family was worried about the impact of Williamsburg climate on his frail health, and upon graduation quickly threw himself into the Patriot cause. Elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, he worked closely with Thomas Jefferson and became a fierce advocate for religious liberty.

When the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation became clear, Madison helped push for a Constitutional Convention in 1787. He arrived in Philadelphia with the Virginia Plan, a bold blueprint that became the foundation for the new Constitution.

Throughout the summer, he spoke more than 200 times, took meticulous notes on the debates, and fought for a strong yet balanced national government with separation of powers and checks and balances.

After the Convention, Madison teamed with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay to write the Federalist Papers , a series of 85 essays that explained and defended the Constitution and helped secure its ratification.

When critics demanded protections for individual liberties, Madison listened. As a member of the First Congress, he drafted and introduced the amendments that became the Bill of Rights in 1791, ensuring that fundamental freedoms would be forever safeguarded.

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a gov‐
ernment which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself” - James Madison

Madison later served as Secretary of State under Jefferson, helping oversee the Louisiana Purchase, and as the fourth President of the United States from 1809 to 1817. He led the nation through the War of 1812, earning the nickname “Little Jemmy” from friends and “the Father of the Constitution” from history.

A lifelong Virginian, he retired to Montpelier with his beloved wife Dolley and continued advising future leaders until his death in 1836 at age 85 — the last surviving signer of the Constitution.

In addition to being the namesake of my beloved @JMUOffcial , James Madison reminds us that careful thought, principled compromise, and unwavering commitment to liberty can build enduring institutions. His genius helped turn the ideals of the Revolution into a lasting republic. 🇺🇸
#30HeroesIn30Days #JamesMadison #FatherOfTheConstitution #BillOfRights #FoundingFathers #AmericanRevolution #America250 #Freedom250 #VA250 #JamesMadisonUniversity

[Kentucky Girl @Notwokenow]

On July 3, 1776 — exactly 250 years ago today — one of the most dramatic and hopeful days of the American Revolution unfolded in Philadelphia.

The Continental Congress had spent the previous day (July 2) voting to approve Richard Henry Lee’s resolution declaring the 13 colonies free and independent states.

John Adams was ecstatic, writing to his wife Abigail that July 2 would be the most memorable day in American history.

But on July 3, the delegates turned to the Declaration of Independence itself. Thomas Jefferson’s draft was under intense debate and editing.

They made dozens of changes — cutting passages, sharpening language, and removing a strong condemnation of the slave trade (a compromise to keep Southern colonies on board).

Meanwhile, outside the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall), the mood was electric.

Word was spreading fast.

People were gathering, and the atmosphere was thick with both fear and exhilaration.

The delegates knew they were signing what could be their death warrants — the British had already branded them traitors.

John Adams, ever the optimist, wrote to Abigail again on July 3, predicting that future generations would celebrate the day with parades, fireworks, and solemn thanks. (He was off by one day-we celebrate July 4- but he nailed the spirit.)

That same day, George Washington was in New York, preparing for the inevitable British invasion.

He had the Declaration read aloud to his troops to boost morale.

July 3, 1776, was huge.

July 3, 1776, was the day the United States stopped being a collection of rebellious colonies and started becoming a nation in the minds of its leaders.

The formal adoption and signing would come the next day, but the decision and the heavy lifting happened on the 3rd.

It was a moment of incredible courage- ordinary men risking everything for an idea that had never been tried at this scale before: a republic based on liberty.

The hope I talked about earlier?

That hope was born in rooms like this one, on days like July 3, 1776.

[Andersonh1 @hsakotc11]

It's been a while since we had a President who did anything other than attack Lee and the South and obsess over "race and slavery". It's genuinely refreshing to see him respected and to see reconciliation shown some respect as well.

[Southern Accents @AccentsSouthern]

The battle for our nation is not between North and South, but between Heritage Americans and the foreign hoards who seek to conquer us.

We can go back to our regional issues once we’ve won, but in the meantime, it’s Johnny Rebs and Billy Yanks against the world.

[Andrew Kolvet @AndrewKolvet]

God bless, Clarence Thomas.

A true American.

[Glenn Beck @glennbeck]

THIS CAN ONLY HAPPEN IN AMERICA. In 1930, an 18-year-old Scottish woman named Mary Anne MacLeod boarded a ship for New York with nothing but $50 in her pocket. She came from a rugged island with limited opportunity, registered as a domestic servant, and worked her way through the depths of the Great Depression.

Years later, she married Frederick, the son of German immigrants. They raised five children in Queens. Including a boy named Donald, who would grow up to reshape the New York skyline and eventually become President of the United States.

That is the extraordinary promise of America. It’s a story built on legal grit, hard work, and respect for the rule of law. Only in this country can the son of a legal immigrant maid rise to the highest office in the land.

[The White House @WhiteHouse]

A nation built on unity.

[Reformed Business Alliance @reformed_ba]

July is Stonewall Jackson Appreciation Month

[Monticello @TJMonticello]

It's almost time for America's 250th birthday! 🇺🇸 In honor of the occasion, we're sharing a fun find from the Jefferson Library. Check out this special edition of Time magazine created for the Bicentennial on July 4, 1976.