This July 4, commit to learning — and appreciating — the history, works, and words that made our nation great.
This July 4, commit to learning — and appreciating — the history, works, and words that made our nation great.
I ndependence Day 2023 brings the United States within three years of its 250th anniversary — a milestone for which there is woeful under-preparation. In contrast to the multi-year Bicentennial celebration of 1976, the approaching 250th anniversary has garnered little attention. Yes, a national Semiquincentennial Commission is making plans, and state and local governments are following suit. Yet the broader culture and popular arena are not yet following these plans.
Divisive public discourse and pessimism about the future may explain some of this. A hyper-focus on presentism could also be a factor. Viewing the past superficially, blindly worshiping predecessors as pure heroes or condemning them as pure villains rather than appreciating the complex people they were, might also be to blame.
The lack of attention to this upcoming celebration may also spring from something as simple — and frightening — as lack of knowledge. Studies report that Americans’ familiarity with government structure, civic rights and responsibilities, and the fundamentals of national history are at discouraging lows.
The nation’s 250th anniversary offers a precious opportunity to address this with a three-year period of preparation. I propose a simple commitment to reading, in their original form, three primary sources of our national identity to give the nation better-informed citizens to lead the country’s next chapter.
This first year, all Americans should undertake a careful reading of the Declaration of Independence. Consider its language, the “self-evident” truths it identifies, the purposes for government it articulates, and the revolution that it launched. Learn about the time in which it was written, the risks and sacrifices accepted by its signers, and the reasons it was made. Understand those who signed it — the good and the bad, the courage and the complexity of the lives they lived and the actions they took. Understand, too, the justification for governments and the obligations of the citizenry that the Declaration proposed.
The second year, commit to reading the Constitution of the United States in its entirety. The seven articles of the Constitution created a government revolutionary for its time — a republic in an age of monarchs.
Start with the soaring language of the Preamble and consider how the Constitution and all who govern under it serve these ideals — or fall short. Read Article I to understand how the bicameral Congress was intended to function, how the responsibilities and limitations of each house were delineated, and how the powers of Congress were limited. Ask whether Congress functions as it was intended and what the dominance of political parties means for legislation and deliberation.
Read Article II to understand the role of the president and contemplate the specific obligations given to and withheld from the office. Contemplate, as well, what it meant to establish a president as head of state rather than a hereditary monarch.
Read Article III to understand the scope of judicial power, the discrete role of the courts, the nature of the disputes courts are authorized to hear, and the ways in which the three branches of government were intended to relate to each other.
Read Article IV to understand the critical importance of state governments on their own and vis-à-vis the national government. Read Article V to understand how the amendment process balanced competing needs for change and stability, Article VI to understand the technical resolution of critical issues such as debts, supremacy, and oaths of office, and Article VII to understand how the Constitution was to be ratified and implemented.
See the genius of the Constitution, whose 4,543 words created the government that endures to this day. See as well its provisions that failed to count all people as full persons in a document intended to “form a more perfect union.” Look honestly at the wisdom and weaknesses embedded in it and the way the government it founded has endured through nearly two and a half centuries.
The third year, commit to reading all 27 amendments to the Constitution. Read the first ten amendments (the Bill of Rights) and learn the history behind their ratification. Understand how unique they were for their time and how easily they can be taken for granted. Consider the unspoken civic responsibilities that accompany them. Then, read amendments eleven through 27 and consider how, in the deliberative way set out by the Constitution, they addressed critical issues that have arisen since the 18th century. Some resolved technical questions. Others mended fundamental flaws, arising from the depths of the nation’s darkest times. Read the Civil War amendments and consider the blood shed to give birth to them.
Certainly, these three sources can be read alone. Yet in preparation for a national milestone, it would be far better if they are read with others. Imagine a 2023–2026 plan for reading them in classrooms, book clubs, youth groups, senior centers, and religious communities, for academic events and civic occasions, and in family homes across the nation. Read them with others whose views and expertise vary. Read them with the young and the old. Read them with those whose national roots have been planted for generations and those who are the newest arrivals to our shores. Read them aloud to appreciate the words more fully.
Read them with a sense of awe about the strength and the fragility of what President Abraham Lincoln called “government of the people, by the people, for the people.”
This is a simple plan, and a simple commitment for the next three years. If it is undertaken as a nation, the celebrations of 2026 will be far richer. They will be built on a fuller understanding of the texts that formed our nation, and guide that nation as the next era of its history dawns.