{"id":3589,"date":"2026-07-12T15:38:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T15:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3589"},"modified":"2026-07-12T15:38:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T15:38:51","slug":"opinion-why-im-optimistic-about-the-next-250-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=3589","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Why I\u2019m optimistic about the next 250 years"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It\u2019s happened. We have celebrated the 250th anniversary (the semiquincentennial if you want to get pedantic). The banners are coming down, the speeches fading into echoes, the parades becoming memories. Time now to look forward to the next 250 years, and I anticipate them with avid optimism. First among those reasons is America\u2019s capacity for improvement. Not always rapid. Not without occasional regression. But improvement. Maybe the drafting of the Declaration of Independence\u2019s most famous lines can serve as a metaphor.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable; that all men are created equal and independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent and inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these ends, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The words read a bit differently than those many of us have committed to heart: \u201cWe 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. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first version comes from Thomas Jefferson\u2019s rough draft of the Declaration of Independence. It represents his thoughts before he submitted them to the other four men the Continental Congress had tasked with writing a defense of their revolution \u2014 John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston and Roger Sherman.<\/p>\n

Editing the Declaration of Independence<\/h3>\n

As the document underwent editing by Jefferson and his fellow committee members, that line evolved. They left no records about why they discarded some phrases in favor of others, so the best we can do is surmise.<\/p>\n

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More guest opinion pieces relating to America 250<\/h5>\n
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