Reflecting on the American Revolution, John Adams remarked that it “was effected before the war commenced.” The Revolution did not begin, he said, in Lexington and Concord or in the stand on Bunker Hill. It was won not in Yorktown or Valley Forge, but “in the minds and hearts of the people.” The Revolution was a war, yes, but it was as much a battle for the hearts of the Colonists as it was for the land of the Colonies. Victory meant freedom; failure was unthinkable. “The real American Revolution,” said Adams, “was in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people.”
On this 249th anniversary of our Independence, America must be reforged in the vision of the Founding Fathers. As we mark 250 years since the first shots were fired in March 1775, we must once again prime our mental muskets with the shot and powder of freedom. We must cross bayonets with the new generation of bad ideas that incline these United States toward tyranny. Socialism, internationalism, identity politics, and mass immigration must be brought to surrender. For America is not a land or an economic zone, but an idea – and this idea is the exclusive property of the American People. America is our People’s one bastion of freedom in a world possessed of tyranny and disorder.
Since the Revolution was in the minds of the People, it did not truly end in 1783. It continues today in every American heart and mind, unimpeded by the flow of time, tested only by our courage to prioritize our own national interests. “We need a new patriotism in America that puts country first,” said the great Pat Buchanan, “a new conservatism of the heart that puts people first, and a new set of priorities where our party stands for something greater than the bottom line on a balance sheet. American workers, our brothers and sisters, are not here to serve the financiers of some New World Order.”
As late as 1775, the Colonists held out hope for reconciliation with Great Britain. Even after the Siege of Boston, as the fallouts from Ticonderoga and Bunker Hill settled, the future revolutionaries asked not for severance from King George III, but rapprochement. Many in the Continental Congress were still loyal to the Crown. It was not until the Congress approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, that the Revolution was at last effected. With that great leap of faith, though years of fighting were yet to come, the battle for the hearts and minds of the People was won.
So fire your barbeques, light your briquettes, and let those coals gleam. Rejoice with your families and friends, honor God and country, and salute the veterans who kept us free. America is our national heritage, forged in the blood of Patriots who fought to hand a better world to their children. Let us do justice to their legacy and preserve our Nation for ourselves and our posterity.
May America be forever free.