Two hundred fifty years ago 56 brave and visionary men put their signatures on one of the most consequential documents in human history. What they were declaring to the world was not just a plan and a vision as to how they wanted to govern themselves. On the conviction that all human beings are created equal, they proclaimed that we are all entitled to certain fundamental rights, among them the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Thus, they established a universal standard for the new nation itself as well as the rest of the world.
The paradox of the high-minded principles the founders of the country were willing to declare is that they themselves, though not all, failed to live up to them. Central to this shortcoming was, of course, the failure to eliminate slavery. So, one would be excused if he or she dismissed the principles of equality and liberty as just superfluous rhetoric. This, however, would do no justice to the founding fathers. They were flawed and imperfect people just like the rest of us. What they finally came together to bequeath to future generations was a new nation and along with it the mission to bring the fruition of the aspirational principles of that founding Declaration.
Indeed, future generations took up the challenge and did not hesitate to go through a brutal civil war to eliminate slavery, or organize and march for women’s rights, and for the unimpeded exercise of the constitutional rights of Black Americans. As historians have said, future generations undertook the challenge and re-founded America again and again in the pursuit of a more perfect union.
Likewise, the principles of the Declaration of Independence were often used as the inspiration in the formulation and exercise of foreign policy. When the invocation of human rights and human liberties has been honest, America has been on the right side of history and a force for good. When other interests have prevailed, America has made a selective and abusive use of its founding principles with disastrous results for itself and the people of countries whose rights were overlooked. Thus, neither at home nor abroad America has escaped the judgment or the challenges set by its founding document.
On this 250th anniversary of America’s founding the last thing we need is triumphalist language about the next 250 years. Empires have come and gone and as far as we know no one has yet discovered how to halt the decline and degeneration of nations. It is usually in an historical post-mortem that we find the causes of the fall. The difficult task is to recognize the insidious rot early and prevent it from spreading.
The Americans of the revolution era did not necessarily saw their mission to be the founding of a hegemonic state. Had this been their primary ambition they would have remained part of the mighty British Empire. Their absolute priority was to create a government system that would allow them to live free of unaccountable authority. Domestic prosperity and international respect would flow from this self-government system. That’s why when asked about the character and the prospects of the new political entity Benjamin Franklin replied: A Republic if we keep it. States can live on long after they have lost their original political identity. After Rome lost its republican form of government it ruled as an autocratic empire for three more centuries until it was supplanted by the new seat of Roman Emperors in Constantinople.
Lest we have the same fate, our primary concern ought to be not whether America remains a preeminent power but whether it retains its democratic soul and governance. It is in that respect that we face perilous headwinds. We do so by virtue of forces for which we all bear responsibility. Inequality, both in the distribution of incomes and wealth and the exercise of political influence; how we treat the basic freedoms of speech and expression and the integrity of voting rights; our attitudes and policies toward immigrants and immigration; our respect for minorities and the choices Americans make in their private lives; and how we cope with the risks of climate change and transformational technological advances. All these forces challenge us in unprecedented ways.
When America celebrated its first centennial anniversary in 1876, it was in the middle of the second industrial revolution. Although Americans reveled at the new technologies, conditions on the ground painted a different picture. The Reconstruction Era was coming to an end. Workers’ rights were suppressed, often violently, and economic inequality was ascendant leading eventually to the excesses of the Gilded Age. Eventually, however, a progressive movement spread across America that in the early 20th century led to the establishment of institutions that proved to be instrumental in America’s ensuing success on the global stage.
Today we find ourselves again in the midst of a new technological revolution which if mismanaged has the potential to exacerbate inequalities and lead us down to a less accountable and democratic path. The question is whether we will be able to find the wisdom and courage to honor the founding principles of America both at home and abroad as we move forward.
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