Remembering the Providential Gift
of America
Christmas, 1776.
Heritage.org
Summer had begun with strong declarations of noble
ideals, but by winter the cause of liberty seemed to
be at low ebb. Having suffered defeat after defeat,
many had all but given up hope. It looked like
freedom would succumb yet again, as it had
throughout history, to the forces of
authoritarianism and tyranny.
Then, on Christmas Day, 1776, a small band of
colonial forces under the command of Gen. George
Washington, having retreated all the way from New
York, again crossed the Delaware River and brought
battle at Trenton, New Jersey. Washington not only
won the battle but regained the initiative and
turned the war in the patriots’ favor. One week
later, Washington defeated the British at Princeton
and forced the enemy to withdraw, preventing its
advance on Philadelphia, seat of the Continental
Congress.
When it announced itself to the world in 1776, the
United States of America was little more than an
alliance of 13 small colonies on a barren continent,
thousands of miles from their ancestral homeland,
surrounded by hostile powers.
Now, well over two centuries after winning
independence from the British Empire, America is the
freest, wealthiest, most powerful nation on Earth.
Along the way it established sovereign nationhood,
settled a continent and more and brought
unprecedented prosperity to its citizens. It
survived a devastating Civil War that threatened its
very life, abolished slavery and raised up the
emancipated to be citizens equal to their one-time
masters. It triumphed in two world wars fought on
foreign soil and a decades-long struggle against
worldwide communism that, 20 years ago, led to the
fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the Soviet
Union.
What accounts for this monumental success? The
founding of the United States was indeed
revolutionary. But not in the sense of replacing one
set of rulers with another, or overthrowing the
institutions of society. John Adams queried:
What do we mean by the American Revolution? The
revolution was in the minds and hearts of the
people. . . . This radical change in the principles,
opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people,
was the real American Revolution.
Our revolution was about the ideas upon which a new
nation was to be established. Permanent truths
“applicable to all men and all times,” as Abraham
Lincoln later said, proclaimed that principle rather
than will would be the ultimate ground of
government.
What is truly revolutionary about America is that,
for the first time in history, these universal ideas
became the foundation of a system of government and
its political culture. Because of
these principles, rather than despite them, the
American Revolution culminated not in tyranny but a
constitutional government that has long endured.
To this day, 233 years after Washington and his men
crossed the Delaware, these principles–proclaimed in
the Declaration of Independence and promulgated by
the Constitution–still define us as a nation and
inspire us as a people. These principles are
responsible for a prosperous, just nation unlike any
other. They are the highest achievements of our
tradition, a beacon to those who strive for freedom
but also a warning to tyrants and despots
everywhere. Because of these principles, not despite
them, America achieved greatness.
The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson
later recorded, was “neither aiming at originality
of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any
particular and previous writing, [but] was intended
to be an expression of the American mind.”
As Americans, our aim must be a clear expression and
forthright defense of the nation’s principles in the
public square so that they become, once again, an
expression of the American mind. Despite constant
scorn by academic elites, political leaders and the
popular media, most Americans still believe in the
uniqueness of this country and respect the Founders’
noble ideas. They may fail a test of particulars –
quick:
when did Washington cross the Delaware? – but
they overwhelmingly want to know about this nation
and its meaning.
We must give voice to all those who have not given
up on their country’s experiment in self-government,
have not concluded the cause of liberty and limited
constitutional government is lost and have not
accepted America’s decline as inevitable.
The goal must be to restore the liberating
principles of the American Founding as the defining
public philosophy of our nation. As it was for most
of American history, so it can be again.
The joy of this wonderful season is about new
beginnings and the eternal promise of redemption. We
Americans have the immeasurable benefit, the
providential gift, of having inherited a great
country.
We must never forget its confidence, optimism and
promise, its endless capacity for renewal, are
contained in our dedication to the
enduring principles of liberty with which all
men are endowed by their Creator.
May you and yours have a merry and blessed
Christmas.