Patriotic Greetings 2023: The Foundations upon which the USA Has Been Built

Patriotic Greetings!

Once again, we have the incredible opportunity with this annual occasion to reconnect with and celebrate the foundations of the United States of America in those pivotal days of 1776.

Following the conclusion of the conflict between Britain and France in 1763, tensions increased between Britain and its 13 North American colonies as the British government steadily increased control over colonial affairs.  As the colonists resisted, the British government reacted more intensely, until the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, triggered war, increasing momentum for the colonies' independence.

At the session of the Continental Congress, on June 7, 1776, Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee presented the following resolution: "Resolved. That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."

After some initial discussion, the Congress decided to schedule a vote on the resolution for July 1 as the colonies used the intervening time to consider their stance.  Meanwhile, Congress appointed a committee to draft a document explaining the move for independence should it be needed, and Virginia delegate Thomas Jefferson was its primary author.

On July 1, Congress began discussing the resolution.  The following day, Tuesday, July 2, 1776, they adopted the independence resolution by a unanimous vote.  After discussing Thomas Jefferson's draft, they adopted the Declaration of Independence on Thursday, July 4.
 
Following several more years of war, the American colonists won a decisive victory at Yorktown against the British in October 1781.  On September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris 1783 formally concluded the war, and the United States of America became fully independent.

I celebrate these days in the wake of an inspirational family vacation in the Metro Area of Washington, D.C., with additional sightseeing in Pennsylvania.

When the Museum of the American Revolution opened in Philadelphia 6 years ago, I was eager for an opportunity to visit, especially after my parents went there a few months after its opening.  I was glad to incorporate a Pennsylvania component to my vacation, including time in Philadelphia.

I started my sightseeing on May 25 with a tour of the Old Pennsylvania State House, Independence Hall, which served as a great prelude for the museum.  The main exhibit showcases different stages of the American Revolutionary Era.  It does a great job of helping visitors connect with this time period, and the end of the main exhibit gives an opportunity for visitors to consider their part in the legacy of the American Revolution.

While there, I had the chance to meet with Kristian, who is on staff.  A couple of years ago, I connected with her via e-mail after contacting the museum about supporting its citizenship class initiative.  I learned about this specific program through a video on its YouTube channel, something I would peruse from time to time as a way to engage with the museum's offerings while waiting for my chance to visit.  She and I made arrangements to meet around lunchtime on the day of my visit.

After getting food from the museum's cafe, we took seats outside, and immediately, Kristian asked me about my interest in the citizenship program.  I expressed how incredible of an opportunity it is for people studying for the US citizenship test to learn the history at a place that focuses on the foundations of the USA.  Furthermore, I'm heartened to hear about people who come to this country and go through the long process to become citizens.  While this country has flaws, it's amazing to see that people are still coming here, recognizing something worthwhile about settling here.  And I see that people get context about what's unique about the USA from this program.

Our conversation soon turned toward my interest in the museum itself and the American Revolution.  I think about how my interest in history started around my late elementary school years, and I became particularly drawn to focusing on the origins of the USA.  Something about considering the roots speaks powerfully about what something is or who someone is.  And for me, I experienced this in the wake of September 11, which created an atmosphere in which I really pondered what this country is about, and how it started to become a unique place in the world.  I spent time studying this time period on my own, beyond what I learned in school.  

And with that mindset, I was eager to watch Liberty's Kids when it debuted on September 2, 2003.  Even though I knew so much about this time period, I learned so much more from watching the show.  Watching it inspired me and made me feel proud to be a US citizen.  It helped me connect with the events by seeing them through the characters, those from history and those inserted into the history to give us a lens for viewing the events as they happened, like the four fictional protagonists at Benjamin Franklin's place in Philadelphia.

It's similar to how the Hamilton musical has sparked interest in this time period by livening it up with today's popular culture and putting it on stage.  When I mentioned Hamilton in our conversation, Kristian noted that across 3rd street is the site where Alexander Hamilton had his office when he was Secretary of the Treasury, at the time Philadelphia was the US capitol.

As we neared the end of our conversation, Kristian noted that we're just about 3 years away from the 250th anniversary of US independence.  She noted the museum staff is going to start considering how to tap into people's intensified interest in the founding of the USA, which is anticipated because of this milestone anniversary.

I really appreciate how a show like Liberty's Kids and the Museum of the American Revolution help connect people with this important time period by showing it as something real, and showing it as something beyond just what's in a book.  It involved people, and we can glimpse that through actual items on display, especially those in the part of the main exhibit about the Battles of Lexington and Concord, with artifacts present from those places on April 19, 1775.

Throughout the rest of my vacation, during the week I spent in Washington, D.C., there were so many other opportunities to connect with the foundations of the USA, as much of it is on display in the city.  I think of exhibits in the Smithsonian, Thomas Jefferson's Library in the Library of Congress, and the Charters of Freedom in the National Archives.  I regularly make a point to visit the National Archives to reconnect myself with the original papers that established our foundational principles.

It was wonderful to share this experience with the throngs of other visitors, including school students on field trips, coming from all over the country.  Indeed, it's special that we can share these treasures as our common heritage, much as we share the principles and ideas they espouse.

The USA is founded upon principles that have continued to drive us and shape the course of our history.  I think about how the Washington Monument symbolizes a people's desire to honor a person who was an important figure in the founding of the country, and how they can draw from his example to continue upholding and edifying the USA.

It's also special to visit Washington, D.C., and go to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.  Mary of the Immaculate Conception is the Patroness Saint of the USA.  I marvel at this place ever since the first time I visited 10 years ago, as being there draws me into a spirit of prayer for this country, even as I think about all the people who have come here from all over the world, as displayed by the side chapels showing Mary's image from different countries.

And these principles have been part of the expansion of this country across the continent.  When I traveled to the Missouri River Valley back in April, I went to visit the Union Pacific Railroad Museum, which has an exhibit about how the transcontinental railroad was built. Today, I still appreciate the way trains connect with the geography of the US, like when I rode across the length of Pennsylvania, and then wound along the New River corridor in West Virginia.

Road trips have a similar effect:  Something about looking at the signs along the road gives me a way to savor the geography of the country as I pass through it.  I also think about how the Omaha area had a unique opportunity to connect with the land with the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge.  While crossing over the Missouri River, people can pose right on the Iowa-Nebraska border, just as I did.  The same goes for when I have biked across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge on the Capitol Beltway, crossing from Virginia through the southern tip of the District of Columbia into Maryland.  Those state border crossings on foot are special opportunities to see two parts of the country come together by doing it myself, without a vehicle.  And I think back to geographical highlights from last summer when I went to the southern border of the USA for a day trip to Tijuana, and then, 2 days later, I visited the lowest point of elevation at Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park.

The Native American people have a special part in the land of the USA, having been here for thousands of years.  Despite the hardships they faced when the US government enacted harmful policies to stifle them, they have maintained traditions that focus on upholding the land, their relationship with it, and their relationships with each other and generations before and after them.  St. Augustine Mission is doing such an amazing job edifying the people of the Omaha and Winnebago Reservations, especially in the efforts to build a new school, whose construction was miraculous in so many ways, in large part because of people who responded generously and realize the potential.  St. Katharine Drexel's magnanimous spirit is alive there, and she certainly lived the founding principles of the USA by noticing the plight of African-Americans and Native Americans and devoting her life to serving their needs.

Another amazing woman who has done great work in the heartland is Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota.  I read her memoir, Not My First Rodeo, a few months ago.  I definitely learned so much about farm work from reading her book.  And it was the kind of character she developed by working the land that fashioned her into a noble leader, working to empower people to make something good of the land.

We have so much potential as a people of the United States because of how we were founded.  We came into existence through a struggle to be free, expressing lofty ideas about how we should live in this world.  They are not static, stale ideas, but continue to be part of our existence today, urging us to make much of them in service to other people.  I'm reminded of a Roman Catholic school group I saw touring the Museum of the American Revolution.  The priest with them told the students that the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness stated in the Declaration of Independence connect with the Church's teaching on upholding the sanctity of life from womb to tomb.  Surely we are called to steward a great treasure.

Indeed, we have so much to celebrate on Independence Day (July 2) and Declaration of Independence Day (July 4).  I hope this occasion inspires all of us to do our part to edify this great gift of a country as we build on the foundation laid so many years ago.

Long Live the Spirit of 1776!

Independence Forever!

Let freedom ring!

God Bless the United States of America, land that I love.

Paul

At the end of the Museum of the American Revolution main exhibit, I show myself to be part of the future and the legacy of the Revolution.

Above, I pose outside the Museum of the American Revolution, and below, I pose by the Washington Monument.  Thanks to the fellow visitors who photographed me.

Mom photographed me posing inside the Lincoln Memorial as we ambled on the western end of the National Mall on Memorial Day Observed.

P.S. This Patriotic Greetings note is part of an annual custom.  Here are links to view previous years' notes that appear on my blog for 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.  If you would like a print copy of this note please contact me.

Please feel free to share this year's post, or any previous year's post with others.

Also, I mention in this post about my recent trip to the Washington, D.C., area.  I will soon publish a post on that trip on this blog, and I will include a link to it here once it's available.  Please feel free to check back later this week.

Something I often like to do on the morning of July 4 is watch the Declaration of Independence ceremony live from the National Archives in Washington, D.C.  You can watch it here at 10 AM ET/9 AM CT on July 4, or in its archived version later.  This year will be the first celebration with Colleen Shogan, the new Archivist of the United States.