This Saturday, July 4, 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of this great nation we live in. Yet because of the politics and so much else that is going on right now, it almost doesn’t feel like the right kind of party atmosphere to commemorate such an august occasion.
Maybe that’s because of the discontent swirling around, much of it media-fed distaste for the status quo in so many different ways. We are a far different republic than what was founded all those years ago. Which we should be. Whether you like it or not.
Still, uncertainty and optimism or negativity was present then, as it is now. The level of current angst is expressed far differently than all those years ago. Thirteen states had formed to throw off the yoke of British rule and head into the future tied together as one, bound by morals, ethics and law. With a spirit borne from its inhabitants that defied the immeasurable odds to become successful in such a new and different world.
You and I and all those who are present and accounted for this July Fourth have the luxury of the sacrifices all those before us have made to make this a better place to live. Our forefathers rebelled against tyrannical oppression, using political guile and military force to create something unique—which would prove to be more special than they ever dreamed it could be.
Yes, there will be parades and fireworks and fairs. We celebrate our legacy. Americans sure like to carry on with food and drink aplenty. It is, after all, a birthday party.
What happened 250 years ago gave rise to a grand and enduring experiment that still, after all this time, is trying to decide in which direction to head next. Nobody can predict how this will evolve, except for maybe in the short term, and that may be a far-fetched guess at best. Which is okay.
It is best to look back to see what the big fuss was about all these years ago. Especially when it is so hot this year.
Imagine the brave signers of the Declaration of Independence who labored in the un-air conditioned swelter or bitter cold of Philadelphia or New York to painstakingly draft a document worthy of a new entity. Indeed, very necessary but highly unpleasant duty.
Thomas Jefferson and his compatriots in the Second Continental Congress established the core principles which have guided Americans since that time: that “all men are created equal” with the unalienable rights of “life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” While we disagree about so many things, those intangibles remain inherent in how the United States operates.
We had the foresight to grind through a revolution and then, with victory in hand, draft and endearing document which we follow and interpret to this day—our Constitution. A basic, secure principle guiding our citizenry is that we live in a society governed by laws which are managed by a court system through a separation of powers designed to prevent abuse.
In school, history fascinated me. Then again, so did the study of government and politics. From an early age, I soaked up those subjects as much as I did sports. The difference was that I could play games—I could not very easily determine policy and direction on a vaster scale than through my right to vote.
I was utterly fascinated by the men who have led our country. Thus I have, alongside my family at times, visited the historic homes of the legends who unified this nation such as Mount Vernon and Monticello. Numerous Presidential birthplaces and libraries have been must-see stops. I attended a college founded in 1887 by a great figure in American lore: Benjamin Franklin. I memorized the nine Colonial Colleges (Harvard, William & Mary; Yale; Pennsylvania; Princeton; Columbia; Brown; Rutgers and Dartmouth)—I have been to them all and became very intimate with Princeton and Rutgers due to the proximity to my home in Highland Park, New Jersey.
New Jersey celebrates its Revolutionary War heritage this year with programs such as the PBS series “Travels with Darley,” who we have been fortunate to be connected to the Executive Producer and have attended events tied to the Semiquincentennial. I have been to Washington’s Crossing; watched the enactment of the Battle of Springfield literally in my backyard; recognized all the other skirmishes that proved vital to engaging the Red Coats in Trenton, Monmouth County and all the way up to Lexington and Concord in the very historic Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The courage of the people who put their lives on the line can never be forgotten.
Discord never deterred me. It probably was instrumental as to why I chose to become a lawyer. To me, law in society has a sacred place and must be scrupulously defended.
I realized that in childhood, while I sought to be the next Mickey Mantle or Tom Tresh, two switch-hitting stars of the early 1960’s New York Yankees, there was more to life than trying to reach the major leagues. Still, it was fun to dream about things that seemed so glorious and entertaining.
When I was growing up, we were still not that far from the carnage of World War II. When I was five years old, I realized that we had only come ten years from the Allies defeating the brutality of Adolf Hitler and ending the western theater with the lethal use of a nuclear bomb. So many newsreels and pictures have been seared in my head from such a young age of nuclear tests, devastation and the horrors of the concentration camps. That transcended into the mortal fear of nuclear proliferation and the evilness of Russia and Communism which culminated in the Cuban Missile Crisis and the terrifying realization that the drills of hiding beneath our school desks would not be enough to protect us from erasure.
While the existential threats never cease, neither does the spirit and resolve of a country. Heritage can be found so many places. Being on the western side of the Atlantic Ocean became a safe haven for so many fleeing oppression. Even if we tragically learned on December 7, 1941 and September 11, 2001 that we were far from invulnerable.
Maybe it’s the lure of something that we need to find in ourselves. Could it be economic or physical security? Or perhaps it is that key word tied so intricately to independence: freedom.
I have felt fortunate to live in a free country, underpinned by the bravery of its people when more than once faced with autocratic and unfathomable hatred by others. What I took for granted from my family’s and my socioeconomic status others could not possibly attain—both within and beyond our borders.
It’s not that the United States did not suffer greatly in its growth. The differences in views festered and grew until there was a Civil War which threatened to break apart this nation. I have been to Gettysburg and have played baseball at the college adjacent to the battlefield where the carnage was extreme. I felt soaked in history in the outfield, and at the same time, thankful that the outcome was to ultimately heal the country from its bitter decisiveness—so that I was free to enjoy and play a game I love on such a bloodstained plain.
In traveling to every state in this Union, I have recognized the efforts from so many who made a country as big and as great as ours through their exhaustive efforts to become so prosperous and diverse. My birth may have been in rural southwestern Georgia where the pace and ways of life differed greatly from the urban setting in the New York metropolitan area, where I have spent the bulk of my life. That’s the beauty of America—it is painted in multiple hues in a variety of locales.
No one could have imagined what this nation has become, especially with what it has endured from the outset. Independence itself was a gambit that even the most ardent supporters of freedom from England could never have anticipated. We have survived the roller coaster ride that has threatened the underpinnings of democracy throughout the epic journey. One which will continue anew on July 5th and for generations to come.
The sum is greater than the parts here. What happened 250 years ago that was codified in a document so revered first by a fledgling group and then by others was an expression of hope grounded in fortitude and bravery. The willingness to collectively stand up for what you believe in the face of immeasurable odds and be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to insure that free speech, liberty and justice remain intact.
The simple fact that there is so much disagreement within the nation right now is not new. I have seen dissension forever. When I was young and traveling cross-country by car with my father in the pre-Interstate era, there were signs aplenty to impeach Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at the time.
Questions arose about John F. Kennedy’s Catholicism being right for America in 1960. Was Barry Goldwater too conservative in his beliefs? Should Richard Nixon have gone to jail for Watergate? Why did we continue to send kids my age into battle in Southeast Asia?
The list of hot button issues continues today. We have so many fragmented, partisan philosophies supplied by a plethora of believers and non-believers. Unity occurs when there is a real and dangerous threat to our survival. That is a basic tenet going back to the 1700’s.
I look outside my suburban dwelling at the finely-manicured lawns and the upscale homes with multiple cars in the driveways. Signs of prosperity are everywhere.
I also see robust trees which may have been infants all those years ago. If they could talk, what magnificent stories they could tell.
We in the United States have achieved great advances in the sciences. I can start with vaccines, move to the telephone and then to rockets which have placed men on the moon. Compared to the horse-drawn era of yesteryear, we are a sleek, mechanized society which is as advanced in the world as any nation might be.
Despite the political polarization right now, it is great time to be alive. Look at sports. What sports did the inhabitants have back in the day? Horse racing, boxing, fishing and some cricket seemed to be popular.
Now, we have professional sports, with big stadiums and indoor arenas with air conditioning to negate the weather. Men, and now women who are so much bigger, stronger and more agile than before.
We can watch games on a screen in our homes or even on a device we carry with us everywhere. Some of it used to be for free but the multiplicity of events we can watch is stupefying, no matter what the cost. They even serve food at the games, and beer, a staple in the taverns and roadside inns of olden times, still can be found everywhere as almost a rite of attendance.
So when I show my impertinence with the political climate, it is a good thing to take some time and recognize the historical perspective. For if we use some basic analytics, we recognize that we, the multicultural inhabitants of this community of 50 states and 14 territories, have great cause to celebrate the birth of this nation.
I suggest that you take some moments to reflect on what July 4th means to you. That’s what I have done with this episode.
We are far from a perfect Union. That could never be. Without the perseverance of those 56 men who boldly affixed their names for the betterment of a society which desperately wanted to be rid of entanglements from an oppressor king, I, the descendant of Eastern European immigrants, would not be writing this blog on a laptop computer while listening to the broadcast of the New York Yankees game on a steaming service called Prime.
Don’t be caught up in the entanglements of the present and make them more powerful than what the Declaration of Independence sought. Not at this or any moment.
Instead, observe the holiday in whatever manner you see fit. From the outset, different batches of heroes and just plain regular folks repeatedly have given us something worthwhile and enduring to celebrate.
Enjoy the BBQ, apple pie and whatever feats you choose to mark the day. Regale in the colorfulness of the fireworks. Remember why we are doing all this.
Happy 250th birthday, America.
