America was hopeful and proud 250 years ago. Are you?
From the perspective of 2026, a time of deep pessimism in America, what is most striking about 1776 is how optimistic the patriots sound. With the stroke of a feather, their self-anointed Congress simply declared that the “United Colonies” had assumed “a separate and equal station” with other nations and were thus entitled to do “all Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.”