July 4, 2024

248 years ago, 56 men signed a declaration announcing independence from Great Britain and asserting that individual rights are gifts from God, not a courtesy of the state.

They pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to the cause.  

They knew the stakes: their signatures on the declaration would, in the event the revolution failed, become their own death warrant.

They were leading, not following — most colonists either remained loyal to the British crown or were unwilling to take sides.  

The battle ahead was difficult, and they never had great odds of actually winning against the most powerful nation on earth.  

The ultimate victory in the battle for independence remains a watershed moment in history, powered by the stirring words of the Declaration of Independence: 

“We hold these truths to be 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.”

Happy Fourth of July and God bless the patriots who risked everything so that we could be free!