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Instead of our usual lineup, we wanted to take a moment at The Agenda to reflect on Independence Day and share with you some thoughts expressed by great leaders of the past about why America is truly exceptional.
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Samuel Adams, State House in Philadelphia, Aug. 1, 1776
"Other nations have received their laws from conquerors; some are indebted for a constitution to the suffering of their ancestors through revolving centuries. The people of this country, alone, have formally and deliberately chosen a government for themselves, and with open and uninfluenced consent bound themselves into a social compact.
"Here no man proclaims his birth or wealth as a title to honorable distinction, or to sanctify ignorance and vice with the name of hereditary authority. He who has most zeal and ability to promote public felicity, let him be the servant of the public.
"This is the only line of distinction drawn by nature. Leave the bird of night to the obscurity for which nature intended him, and expect only from the eagle to brush the clouds with his wings and look boldly in the face of the sun."
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Liberty for All Future Time
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Abraham Lincoln, Independence Hall, Feb. 22, 1861
"I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.
"I have often pondered over the dangers which were incurred by the men who assembled here, and framed and adopted that Declaration of Independence. I have pondered over the toils that were endured by the officers and soldiers of the army who achieved that Independence. I have often inquired of myself, what great principle or idea it was that kept this Confederacy so long together.
"It was not the mere matter of the separation of the Colonies from the motherland; but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but, I hope, to the world, for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weight would be lifted from the shoulders of all men.
"This is a sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence."
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Calvin Coolidge, 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 5, 1926
"It was not because it was proposed to establish a new nation, but because it was proposed to establish a nation on new principles, that July 4, 1776, has come to be regarded as one of the greatest days in history.
"Great ideas do not burst upon the world unannounced. They are reached by a gradual development over a length of time usually proportionate to their importance. This is especially true of the principles laid down in the Declaration of Independence.
"Three very definite propositions were set out in its preamble regarding the nature of mankind and therefore of government. These were the doctrine that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain inalienable rights, and that therefore the source of the just powers of government must be derived from the consent of the governed."
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Profound, Eloquent, and Unequivocal
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Martin Luther King Jr., Ebenezar Baptist Church, July 4, 1965
"America is essentially a dream. It is a dream of a land where men of all races, of all nationalities, and of all creeds, can live together as brothers. The substance of the dream is expressed in these sublime words, 'We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.'
"Now, we notice in the very beginning that at the center of this dream is an amazing universalism. It does not say some men, but it says all men. It does not say all white men, but it says all men, which includes black men…
"It says that each individual has certain inherent rights that are neither derived from or conferred by the state. They are gifts from the hands of the almighty God. Very seldom, if ever, in the history of the world has a socio-political document expressed in such profound, eloquent, and unequivocal language, the dignity and the worth of human personality."
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Ronald Reagan, farewell address to the nation, Jan. 11, 1989
"Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words: 'We the People.' 'We the People' tell the government what to do; it doesn’t tell us. 'We the People' are the driver; the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast.
"Almost all the world’s constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which 'We the People' tell the government what it is allowed to do. 'We the People' are free.
"This belief has been the underlying basis for everything I’ve tried to do these past eight years. … And I hope we have once again reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There’s a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts."
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“The people … are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.”
—Thomas Jefferson
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This Independence Day, take the defense of liberty to a whole new level. Your action today will make a difference for generations to come.
Use this secure link to learn how: https://secured.heritage.org/hls-estate-plan/
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