July 4, 1776, Was Just the Beginning
By Michael J. Cleary
July 4, 2026, marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a formal announcement that the 13 British colonies in America were severing their ties to the King and British rule.
The Declaration is basically a breakup letter, wherein the 13 colonies joined in one voice to tell King George III they were taking the relationship in a different direction, and why.
In fact, the Declaration of Independence spends a lot of time on the “why” of the breakup, and goes so far as to list 27 specific grievances, pointing out things the King did which the colonies considered to make the whole relationship toxic. The King, being the King and not accustomed to being called out in such a fashion, did not take this calmly, thus kicking off the Revolutionary War, which dragged on for some eight years, ending in 1783.
The Declaration of Independence pretty much just said, “We’re not British anymore.” But it didn’t exactly say what we were instead. It wouldn’t be until 1787, some four years after the end of the Revolutionary War, until our new nation had a Constitution. Further, it wasn’t until 1791 that the so-called “Bill of Rights” was added.
The Declaration of Independence didn’t really address individual rights and freedoms in the same way, and with the same intent as the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Within the context of being a breakup letter, the Declaration says the following:
“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, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
While this sounds like a pretty broad and all-encompassing statement, it was also a statement made at a time when the institution of slavery was widely accepted — to the extent that nobody seemed worried that such a statement would be construed to include slaves among those endowed with those certain inalienable rights.
So, July 4 marks 250 years since we formally declared we were striking out on our own. Then we had to fight for eight years to see that declaration finalized. This was all before we finally were able to make a written document, the Constitution, laying out the framework for what our independent union of colonies would look like.
Over the course of the past 250 years, our nation has changed, evolved and adjusted. The nation was still young when we fought a bloody Civil War over the issue of slavery. It wasn’t until 1920 that women had the right to vote, and issues surrounding voting were further defined in the 1960s and continue to be a controversial issue.
Other rights, such as those pertaining to gun ownership seem to have been evolving and unsettled from day one until today, and don’t seem to be anywhere near settled. Freedom of speech and freedom of religion continue to evolve and change. Our freedom to be free from other peoples’ freedom seems like an eternal issue, yet to be ironed out.
It would be fair to say that 250 years ago, our founding fathers didn’t quite know for sure how everything would eventually work out and how our nation would look today. One thing I think is clear is from the very start, this was not a perfect nation, and it continues in its imperfection. But, the strength of our nation is our ability to address the imperfections, quite often in a bumpy and uncomfortable way, and change, nonetheless.
Independence Day seems like a good day to remember the founding of this nation, and the desire of all of us to live freely and fully enjoy our inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Michael J. Cleary is Publisher of Farmers Weekly Review.
