Our Message on July 4th

Proponents of Critical Race Theory, the 1619 Project and those who regularly defame our history say the American Revolution was fought to entrench slavery, and that racism has been embedded in our national DNA ever since.

As one parent in New Hampshire told us, his young son’s curriculum even included a quiz that tied the Declaration of Independence to “white supremacy.”

Well, the real answer to this slander is the graph below, which going back to 1575 lays out the progress of abolitionism across the globe. It comes from scholar Steven Pinker’s 2011 book,The Better Angels of our Nature, and is explained here in great detail by the Association of Mature American Citizens.

Do you notice anything interesting?

In 1776, America’s Founding Fathers created an entirely new country based on the revolutionary and “self-evident truth” that “all men are created equal.”

Nothing like this had never happened before – and that is why America is exceptional.

It’s not that we as human beings are better than others, it’s that the underlying principle of our founding is by definition the exception to human history. 

Before the Revolution, no state under British rule had abolished slavery and the British Empire didn’t do so until 1833.

But after 1776, it started to be outlawed fairly quickly, particularly in northern states. Pennsylvania acted in 1780, New Hampshire and Massachusetts in 1783, Connecticut and Rhode Island in 1784, New York in 1799, and New Jersey in 1804. 

The truth is this – regardless of the realities and limits of their time, America’s founders kicked off an abolitionist movement to end the evil of slavery not only in the U.S. but across the entire planet. And it was no accident.

Human freedom, dignity, progress and opportunity across the world have made great strides specifically because of the values of 1776 and the men who etched them into our founding documents.

That’s why they are both worthy of celebration.

So this 4th of July, be proud and wave that flag a little higher.