Drum roll, please! There are 238 reasons to salute the United States of America — one for each year of its magnificent life.
Each one flies as brightly as its Stars and Stripes, for when in the course of human events it becomes necessary to set aside an annual day to hail the best nation ever. But a decent respect for its birth and triumphs requires that every other day should also be a red, white, and blue toot-toot-a-toot.
On July 4, 1776, the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence and laid the cornerstone of a fledgling nation that would become a lightning rod for hope, freedom, and the human spirit. That document, unprecedented in scope and vision, defined democracy and became a roadmap for the generations of immigrants who continue to arrive here 238 years later in search of a better tomorrow than the yesterday they left behind.
Their stories embody the truths that Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston — the Committee of Five which drafted and presented the great manifesto to the Second Continental Congress — held as self-evident: “That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Those stirring words inspired a revolution that freed Americans from British rule and asserted their right to form their own government. They remain as undeniable today as 238 years ago when they set the stage for a brand-new land that would become the undisputed leader of the world. They also foretold the nation’s unprecedented successes which could not have been accomplished without the extraordinary sacrifices and labors of ordinary Americans, who surrendered their lives on the battlefield to uphold the American way of life, and created the tidal force of enterprise and hard work that engineered the best production system in history, improved the human standard, and made the American Dream possible.
America is still in its infancy, but mature beyond its years. It champions democracy in oppressed regions and doles out billions in foreign aid every year as history’s top humanitarian above other nations which have been around since the dawn of civilization and still cannot get their acts together.
Happy Birthday, America, and let the Star-Spangled Banner wave in triumph o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave, for all eternity. Without her, the free world would disappear, and the planet would decompose into an oppressive and dreary dump with more reason to celebrate death than life.
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