@TheAliceSmith I read the Declaration of Independence out loud today with heartfelt conviction.
It is a work not just of genius, but also of a purity of soul that resonates to this very day.
250 years ago, on July 2nd, 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted to declare independence from Great Britain.
John Adams wrote to his wife the next day:
“The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.—I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”
Well, not quite.
On July 4th, the delegates adopted the Declaration of Independence — and that has been the day for celebrations ever since.
Today, I feel a deep sense of gratitude for the generations of Americans who have sustained our great nation for the past 250 years. America is a place of incredible freedom, spirit and opportunity—all thanks to those who came before us. May we honor their memory by fighting to make the next 250 years even better than the first. May God bless you all, and happy 4th of July 🇺🇸
"We are the keepers of the flame of liberty." Ronald Reagan, July 3, 1986, lighting the Statue of Liberty's torch on the eve of Independence Day. Forty years later, on America's 250th birthday, it still says everything.
"We are the strongest and most powerful country on Earth. And by the grace of God, the United States of America is the most successful, most accomplished, most exceptional nation ever to exist in human history." - President DONALD J. TRUMP 🇺🇸
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood..." - Theodore Roosevelt